Oak
by LordMagikarp
Summary: You all know Professor Oak, the old man who gave Ash his Pikachu, and gave you your own first Pokemon. But do you know his story? Rated T just in case.
1. Oak

**Oak Chapter 1**

**Hi everyone! This is the first fanfiction that I have written for three years. This story takes place in Kanto, 40 years before the events in the games and anime, but for the sake of convenience, we will pretend that everyone knew about Johto, because face it, it doesn't make sense that the people of Kanto never noticed a region so close to them.**

**Constructive criticism is good, but please, do not flame.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon**

* * *

13 year old Samuel Oak awoke in the middle of the night. He crept out of his bed fully dressed, light-footed as a Persian, slung a fully packed bag over his shoulder and stepped down through the unlit halls of his home in Pallet town. A floorboard creaked underneath his foot, and he froze, not daring to make a noise, in case he woke up his father, sleeping in the next room. If his father woke, his weeks of planning with Aggie would be for nothing. His father didn't approve of 'scrabbling around in the bushes with dangerous wild animals' as he called Pokémon training, but he didn't understand. Sammy _needed _to be a trainer. He needed to know more about Pokémon, how they lived, their habitats, their strengths, their weaknesses. People were going to be setting up a league for battlers soon, and if that happened… well, Sammy couldn't very well stay back in Pallet, could he?

He finally left the house, breathing the cool night air in deeply. He held his arms close to him, glad for his long sleeved shirt and long pants. His bangs of brown hair hung in his eyes, he crept silently, freezing at every Pidgey perching on a roof, every Rattata scrabbling across the grass, until he reached a house a few doors down from his. He gently threw a small rock at one of the higher windows.

'Aggie! Aggie, you ready?' he whispered as loud as he dared.

A girl, with shoulder length dark hair and brown eyes leaned out the window, flashed a grin at Sammy, and put a finger to her lips. She ducked back into her room, and in less than a minute, was out of the door, and with Sammy.

'So, are we still going through with this, Sammy?' asked Agatha, mischief glinting in her eyes. Agatha, like Sammy, had parents that didn't approve of her love of Pokémon. So, together, she and Sammy had hatched a plan to get out into training before their parents could stop them

'Of course we are! We've come this far, we can't very well back out now, can we?' replied Sammy.

'Good, I was wondering if you would chicken out.'

Agatha smirked again. 'It would be just like you to do it'

Sammy was starting to be annoyed. 'Oh yeah? When have I ever chickened out on you, Aggie? Huh?'

Agatha mockingly pretended to think deeply for a moment. 'Let me think… The time back in school when the Magikarp-'

'We agreed never to talk about that again!' hissed Sammy, cheeks flushing. Agatha ignored him.

'And when I dared you to touch the Beedrill hive…'

'Quite frankly, that was just dangerous.'

'_And _there was the time when I told you to throw a rock at that Spearow… Well, you _did _throw it, but you screamed like a girl when it chased after you.'

'_That _was just stupid. Honestly, I can't believe I did it at all, looking back. Only _you, _Aggie, could make anyone other than a complete and utter idiot throw a rock at a wild pokemon.' retorted Sammy.

Agatha laughed, and shook her long hair out. 'Well, looks like I wouldn't have needed to be there, in that case.'

'Hey!'

'Whatever, chicken. Anyway, come on. Those Pokéballs aren't going to get themselves!' She grabbed Sammy by the hand, and started dragging him towards the shops.

They travelled together a few houses down, until they reached a general store. Agatha rummaged in her pockets, and pulled out a slightly rusty key. Her father owned the shop, and so had given her the key so she could get in while he was on a night shift.

Uncharacteristically, Agatha actually looked a bit worried here. 'Look, Sammy. Even though my dad owns the store, we could still get in real trouble if we are caught. Like, breaking the law trouble.'

This caught Sammy by surprise. The gravity of the situation, and what they were going to do, set in by Agatha's dropping out of her usual nonchalant air. He nearly gave up then and there. But then, he thought of how much he wanted, how much he _needed _to be a trainer, and his decision was made.

'Then we won't get caught.' Said Sammy, with steel in his voice. Agatha looked up, and her lips curved back up into a smile.

'Well, it appears you do have a backbone after all.' She said, with the characteristic laughter in her eyes.

'I didn't have one before?' asked Sammy 'Anyway, come on, Agatha, unlock the door, the longer we're out here, the more likely we are to get caught.'

'Right' said Agatha, as she slotted the key into the hole. Together, they ventured into the closed, dark store.

'Where are the Pokéballs?' whispered Sammy. 'I can't see them anywhere!'

'They're in the back.' replied Agatha. 'Keep quiet.' They continued through the store, until they reached a locked cupboard at the back. Agatha's key unlocked it, and they saw the balls. They were a chrome colour, with a dull red screw-top lid. They were divided with a black line through the middle. (A.N. The Pokéballs are the same kind as the ones used by Sammy in Pokémon 4Ever)

After staring at the contraptions, Sammy picked one up and held it in his hand. The smooth surface felt so… _right _in his hand. He was dimly aware of Agatha picking some up, and stuffing them into her bag. He put the ball down into his, and took 10 more, just in case. Agatha locked eyes with him, and he knew there was no turning back now.

Brimming with newfound energy, they left the store. They walked through the dark streets, until they reached the path leading to Route 1. They stood there, staring into the trees for a moment, until Agatha broke the silence.

'Well… we're going to be travelling alone so… I guess this is it?' She said awkwardly. 'Um… I'll see you in Viridian, I guess.' She began walking down the path.

'Wait up Agatha!' called Sammy. 'You don't have to leave just yet, I mean, it's just Route 1!'

Agatha looked back with an eyebrow raised. 'You'd really miss me that much?' she quipped. As Sammy flushed and stammered, she laughed. 'Oh, lighten up, I'll see you in a couple of hours at the most.' She continued walking, and was soon out of sight.

Sammy stared after her for a while, but hitched his backpack around his shoulders, and headed off. Within a minute, Pallet town was completely out of sight, obscured by the thick layer of trees.

In the shade of one of the bushes by the side of the path, eyes gleamed out, staring after Samuel and Agatha. After a moment's pause, it loped out of the shadows, and after the two humans.

* * *

_Some hours later…_

Sammy continued through the thinly forested area, surprised by the lack of wild Pokémon attacks. From the descriptions he had gained from his father of the routes between towns, he had expected to be attacked every time he took a step. But so far, other than seeing Kakunas and Metapods asleep on branches, and the occasional Rattata or Pidgey, who stayed out of his way, the path had been completely Pokémon free! However, he did get the unnerving feeling that he was being followed, but every time he turned to look, he found nothing.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look, and found himself staring in horror, as the creature that had been following him since Pallet Town sprang out of hiding, and jumped, claws bared, towards him.

**Well, that was Chapter 1. I hope you enjoyed it. See you next time, and please review, there is no better feeling for an author than having the counter go up since you last saw it.**

**For those who care, Sammy looks like he did in Pokemon 4Ever**

_**LordMagikarp**_


	2. Sammy Catches a Pokemon!

**Oak Chapter 2**

_**Sammy Catches a Pokémon**_

**Hey guys, I'm back. Same thing applies as last time, I do not own Pokémon. Read and Review!**

_Suddenly, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look, and found himself staring in horror, as the creature that had been following him since Pallet Town sprang out of hiding, and jumped, claws bared, towards him._

The creature landed on Sammy's chest, ripping his shirt and knocking him backwards. He hit the ground with a thud, displacing the dirt around him. He wildly looked around for a moment for the creature, and started backing away when he realised that it was now right in front of him.

Now that it was standing still, he had the chance to tell what it is. It was canine and quadrupedal, and had orange fur, which was patterned with black stripes. It was a little over two feet tall, and had a small mane made of white, vaguely flame shaped fur. The Growlithe, for that was what it was, growled and pounced towards him again. The impact forced Sammy back to the ground again, but this time, the Growlithe was still on his chest. Its claws dug into his soft flesh, causing him to whimper in pain. It may have just been a trick of the light, but the Growlithe, instead of looking bloodthirsty as he had first assumed, had a look of… was that disapproval in its eyes? Sammy did not waste time deliberating on it and threw the Growlithe off. The Growlithe flew through the air for a few moments, and landed on its feet, albeit stunned.

The few seconds the Growlithe took to start to chase him were all Sammy needed, and he sprung to his feet, and ran for it. He sprinted through the trees, jumping over large roots, and holding his arms before his face to avoid cutting it as he ran through branches. He continued running for a while, until he was brought down again by the Growlithe tackling him once more, this time catching him in the leg. Sammy's leg felt like it was on fire as the claws of the Growlithe penetrated it. He somehow managed to turn himself over to look at it again, and stared into its eyes. There was no mistaking it, it did look disapproving. It growled louder than before at Sammy, who suddenly came to a realisation.

_It's not trying to kill me at all! I'm just being tested! That's why it keeps letting me go, and hasn't actually used any of its fire techniques on me- he doesn't want me to die! But it doesn't realise how fragile we humans are- I could get killed anyway if it keeps going on like this, I've got to end this before I'm seriously injured- or worse!_

Startled by this revelation, Sammy stood up suddenly, shaking the Growlithe off due to sheer surprise. He ran again, with the Growlithe hot on his heels (Pun intended) but this time not to escape, but to reach a sufficiently low-branched tree. He found a good one, and hoisted himself up onto the lowest branch, but was not able to pull his left leg (still weakened from the Growlithe landing on it) up before the Growlithe jumped at it and ripped another gash in it, and tore off his shoe.

It prowled around the tree, occasionally snapping at the air, and making attempts to climb it. Meanwhile, Sammy climbed a few branches higher, but not too high, formulating a plan. When Growlithe passed directly below him, he jumped down from above the canine, landing on top of it and forcing it to the ground. It snapped and fought him, struggling to break free as Sammy continued to hold tight to it. Its claws raked against his stomach, ripping his shirt further and drawing blood. This made the boy wince, but he still held firm. After about a minute of unsuccessful struggle, the Growlithe finally stopped struggling, and Sammy released it.

It lay on the ground, panting, until Sammy pulled out a Pokéball, which made it sit up proudly. It lowered its head, and Sammy placed the ball on its white mane, unscrewed the red screw top, and Growlithe was engulfed in a flash of red light. Sammy stood, holding the Pokéball for a moment, until he remembered the pain in his leg. Wincing as he walked, he began collecting wood to make a splint for himself.

**Well, this was a bit shorter than last chapter, but Sammy caught his first Pokémon! That's got to be worth something, right? I couldn't figure out how to make the chapter any longer without stretching the battle scene out too much. But I will try to update quickly, so it's not that bad. Please review!**

**Next time: Rival Battle! Sammy Vs Agatha!**

**A.N. Can someone please Beta Read for me, I would appreciate help.**


	3. Rival Battle! Oak VS Agatha!

**Oak Chapter 3**

_**Rival Battle! Oak VS Agatha!**_

**Hey readers, me again. This time, we'll see how Agatha has been getting on without Sammy. Thanks to Ri2 for helping me with some details of the story. **

**Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

It was a couple of days since Sammy had caught his Growlithe. He wasn't moving as fast through the lightly wooded area as he would have liked, partly because of his injured leg (Which he could tell Growlithe felt sorry for) and for his frequent breaks to train, draw, and generally learn more about his new Pokémon. However, Growlithe simply didn't have the patience to sit still long enough to be sketched and examined properly, and moved far too often, running off to do one thing or another. But Sammy didn't hold it against him; Growlithe was merely itching for a fight, as usual. The wild Rattatas and Pidgeys _had _kept him occupied at the beginning, but after a while, they simply learnt to keep their distance from him. The result was a Pokémon full of energy with no way to vent it- and if Sammy was as bored as Growlithe seemed to be, he wouldn't just sit around doing nothing while getting sketched. They were progressing well enough on their training, and Growlithe was learning to control his own strength around humans, much to Sammy's relief.

Just as they were wrapping up another failed sketch session (Growlithe had wandered off to get some berries to eat for the third time, and Sammy decided that the endeavour was futile), and they were packing up camp to traverse the small distance left between them and Viridian, they saw a familiar figure heading down the track towards them, her dark hair flapping in the wind.

'There you are, Slowpoke!' called Agatha. 'You're lagging _way _behind. I reached Viridian yesterday, and was waiting for you there for_ hours. _What kept you?'

'I caught my first Pokémon, but I got injured in the process' said Sammy, wincing slightly as he pulled up his pants leg to show Agatha his injuries. Her eyes widened and she inhaled sharply.

'Does it… hurt?' she asked as she tentatively reached out her hand to touch the wound.

'DON'T touch it!' said Sammy, pushing away Agatha's hand. 'It only hurts when something touches it, or if I put too much pressure on it. Otherwise, it's mostly fine.' He pulled his pants leg back down. Agatha relaxed once it was out of sight, and soon regained her usual confidence.

'So, Sammy, what Pokémon did you catch? Is is a _widdle Rattata? _Or maybe it's a _pwiddy Pidgey_.' She said, voice practically dripping with sarcasm and disdain. This incensed Sammy.

'No, it's something much better!' he said hotly. He unscrewed the lid of his Pokéball. 'Growlithe, come on out!'

The canine Pokémon appeared in a flash of red light. 'Growlithe!' it barked proudly. It then turned its head to look at Agatha. She raised her eyebrow, impressed. 'Not bad, Sammy… Growlithe and Arcanine are really powerful.' It could have just been a trick of the light, but it seemed that Growlithe smirked at that.

'So, Aggie, what did _you_ catch? Can it beat Growlithe? ' said Sammy, a bit arrogantly. 'Or Is it a _widdle Rattata_? Or maybe it's a_ pw-'_

'That's my line, Sammy! You can't take it!' said Agatha, annoyed. 'But to answer your question- I choose you, Ekans!' She opened her Pokéball and in a flash of red light, a purple serpentine creature appeared on the ground, its slitted yellow eyes glinting.

'Ekans!' it hissed, coiling itself into a pile. Agatha smiled at it, then looked over at Sammy.

'Well, now that our Pokémon are acquainted, how about a battle?' she challenged. 'Or are you scared that you'll lose?'

'You wish!' said Sammy hotly. 'Growlithe and I can take on your overgrown snake any day! Isn't that right!' Growlithe barked in agreement. Agatha laughed.

'I knew that you weren't completely spineless, Sammy! I must be rubbing off on you! All right, let's battle.'

The two friends stood at opposite sides of a clearing, their Pokémon staring at one another with intensity. Growlithe was twitching with suppressed energy, in a half crouch, growling softly at his serpentine enemy at the opposite end of the field. Ekans was coiled in a heap on the ground, rigid, its eyes slitted as it glared at Growlithe.

Agatha smiled and flipped her hair. 'Well, I guess that I'll start things off. Ekans, use Poison Sting!' she commanded. The snake hissed and shot purple glowing barbs out of its mouth towards Growlithe.

'Dodge it, and counter with a Bite attack!' shouted Sammy. Growlithe barked in affirmation, and leaped agilely out of the way of the projectiles. He then started racing towards Ekans at high speed, and lunged, jaws crackling with dark energy.

'Ekans, dodge and use Wrap!' The snake slithered quickly out of the way, only being hit glancingly by Growlithe's muzzle. It extended itself to wrap around the canine's head and neck, bringing them both crashing to the ground. While Growlithe thrashed, trying to escape, Ekans wrapped itself tighter around him, constricting the fire type's chest. Sammy gasped, worried for his Pokémon, then formulated a plan.

'Growlithe, use Bite, throw Ekans off while he can't dodge!' Struggling, Growlithe pulled himself to his feet, and latched his jaws around Ekans' midsection, pulled the snake off, and threw him into a tree. The poison type screeched in pain from the impact, but quickly recovered.

'Use Poison Sting again!' The snake complied, and spat barbs again, this time in a wider spray. Growlithe attempted to dodge them, but eventually one hit him in the leg. The projectile glowed harshly, and dissolved into Growlithe's skin. He gasped in pain as his whole body glowed a sickly purple for a moment.

Agatha pumped her fist in the air in celebration. 'Yes! Growlithe is poisoned! I don't think he'll last long now! Ekans, finish him off with your own Bite! The poison type hissed in confirmation, and lunged towards Growlithe, who was still reeling from the effects of the poison.

'Oh no! exclaimed Sammy worriedly. 'Growlithe, quick! Use Ember on Ekans!' The puppy Pokémon sank into a half crouch, tensed up, and unleashed a small stream of flame onto his adversary. This fire hit Ekans on its side, and knocked it slightly off course, which led it's bite to be ineffective, but still connect with Growlithe's already weakened leg, forcing him to his jnees.

'Ekans, wrap Growlithe again!' shouted Agatha, worried that she was losing control of the battle. The purple snake made use of its position on Growlithe's leg to lever itself to begin constricting the canine's body.

'Growlithe, you know what to do!' shouted Sammy. Growlithe whimpered from the extreme force being placed on him by Ekans's Wrap, but still grabbed Ekans by the upper part of its neck, and threw it to the ground with a loud thump. The serpent landed a short distance away, and was visibly shaking in pain. It hissed feebly when Growlithe approached.

'Growlithe, finish this with Ember.' said Sammy calmly, as Agatha gaped, unable to believe that she was sure to lose. The fire type was in almost as bad a condition as Ekans by this point due to the continued damage from poison and the other hits that it had taken during the battle, but still raised its head high, and spat a steady stream of flames at its adversary. These, unlike the previously used ones, hit Ekans dead on, which finally fainted the snake.

'Yes! We won!' exulted Sammy, 'In your face, Agatha!' He stuck out his tongue childishly as Agatha fumed.

'It was just a fluke!'

'Yeah, sure, whatever!' said Sammy, too happy to let Agatha bring him down. He turned back to the battlefield. 'And Growlithe! That was amazing! I couldn't have done it without-' he stopped, as he saw Growlithe unconscious on the floor next to Ekans. The fire type must have fainted from poisoning while the two friends were bickering. Sammy sweatdropped.

'heh… we should probably get them healed at Viridian, shouldn't we?' said Sammy, awkwardly, as he pressed his Pokéball against Growlithe's back, absorbing the Puppy Pokémon in a flash of red light. Next to him, Agatha did the same to Ekans.

'That would probably be for the best. Come on, if we hurry, we can be there before it starts to get dark.' Said Agatha, getting over the awkward moment. Laughing, the two friends continued down the path to Viridian.

_A few hours later_

'Here we are! Viridian City!' proclaimed Agatha loudly.

'We know- why did you just shout it now?' asked Sammy.

Agatha slapped him. 'It was just the right time, OK?'

Sammy rubbed his cheek, which still had the red imprint of Agatha's hand on it. 'Whatever you say… It's a bit odd, though, don't you think? Why is there no-one on the streets? It's not that dark, is it?' he wondered, peering down through the cobbled streets.

'Do you think something's happened?' asked Agatha

'I don't know, but we'd best be on the lookout' said Sammy. They continued down the streets. Suddenly, Sammy, who was a little behind Agatha, was grabbed by two strong hands from behind. He was steered around to look at the stern face of an Officer Jenny. Looking ahead at Agatha, he saw that she had been grabbed by another police officer, a man.

'What are you two doing outside! Civilians are not allowed out on the streets!' she said angrily. 'Can't you see? There's a curfew on!' Sammy was shaking with fear.

'I swear, I don't know what's going on! We've only just arrived in the city a couple of minutes ago, we don't know about any curfew! Why aren't we allowed on the streets?' Sammy gabbled quickly, almost incomprehensibly. Jenny shook her head, her lips drawing tight.

'There's been a murder. Alfonso Rocketto is dead.'

**The plot thickens! Sorry for the wait this time! Next time- Investigation Of A Murder**

_**LordMagikarp**_


	4. Investigating A Murder

**Investigation of a Murder**

**Hi guys, I'm back! Just a quick reminder before you read- please review! I've gotten over 150 views, which is amazing, but reviews are the best thing for a fledgeling fanfiction writer. Anyway, I do not own Pokémon, constructive criticism is appreciated, but flames are not, same old drill.**

_**Last time…**_

_They continued down the streets. Suddenly, Sammy, who was a little behind Agatha, was grabbed by two strong hands from behind. He was steered around to look at the stern face of an Officer Jenny. Looking ahead at Agatha, he saw that she had been grabbed by another police officer, a man._

_'What are you two doing outside? Civilians are not allowed out on the streets!' she said angrily. 'Can't you see? There's a curfew on!' Sammy was shaking with fear._

_'I swear, I don't know what's going on! We've only just arrived in the city a couple of minutes ago, we don't know about any curfew! Why aren't we allowed on the streets?' Sammy gabbled quickly, almost incomprehensibly. Jenny shook her head, her lips drawing tight._

_'There's been a murder. Alfonso Rocketto is dead.'_

Sammy and Agatha gaped in surprise and shock, as the tight lipped Officer Jenny looked at them.

'H-how did it happen?' asked Sammy in shock. The police had released the two, and they were now standing beside one another.

The man spoke in a deep voice. 'Murdered, by a gang of crooks. We think it was because he had some sort of connection to them… he always did seem to have more money than he should, by some accounts…' The man trailed off darkly.

'You think he was a criminal?' asked Agatha.

'That's our guess. We never found any concrete evidence, though. We think it was a squabble over gang territory, or maybe he refused to give them some information or money. Really, the possibilities are near endless. We think that they went off towards Mount Silver, and tried to escape to Johto, but we don't know for sure,' the male officer said.

'My worry's for his kid.' Officer Jenny said sadly. 'Little Giovanni's only eight, and he saw his dad get murdered right in front of him. He's traumatized- -doesn't think he can trust anyone. He'll have to go into foster care.'

Sensing Jenny's distress, the man stepped in. 'We'd better get you kids to the hotel. Joy's set up a Pokémon hospital there too, you can heal your Pokémon there,' he said gruffly, but not unkindly. He steered them towards the hotel, Jenny following.

The hotel was a tall, multi-story building. As Sammy and Agatha entered, they saw a very flustered pink-haired woman behind the receptionist's desk, surrounded by ringing phones. As they watched, she picked up one. 'Hello, this is Joy… No… no… why would I want that? I'm sorry, your Charmeleon is still in critical condition.' She picked up another phone, and held it to her ear. 'Hello this is… Yes… No! I'm sorry, he's not here… nor is she. For the last time, no!' She slammed down the phones, groaned, and put her head in her hands. 'This job is too much for one woman to take… My stupid mother's idea that the whole family gets into the business…' she muttered under her breath. She looked up at Sammy and Agatha. 'Sorry kids, what can I do for you?' she asked a little breathlessly.

Officer Jenny stepped in, and put her hands over the two children's shoulders. 'These two need a room for the night, and their Pokémon to be healed. I'll pay,' she said charitably.

'You don't have to-' stammered Sammy before he was cut off. 'I insist,' said Jenny. 'You kids should get out of this city as soon as you can.'

She handed over 100 Poke in a small pouch to Joy, who placed it in a cash register. Everything appears to be in order…' she said. 'Just a sec-' She rummaged under her desk for a moment, before pulling out two room keys. 'Your rooms are numbers 64 and 65', she said, reading off the keys. 'Third floor.'

Joy resumed her phone conversations, and Sammy and Agatha took it as their cue to leave, saying their goodbyes to the police officers in the process.

As they walked through the corridors in silence, they noticed a room on the second floor with its door open. Inside was a small child with dark hair and gray eyes, sitting on a bed, alone. He looked around eight, and was dressed in a small business suit. He had evidently been born to wealth. His room was empty, other than a bed and a cupboard in a corner. His eyes were rimmed red, but he wasn't crying anymore. He stared bleakly out at Sammy and Agatha.

'My father was innocent, you know. He was framed by the real criminals,' he said in a hollow voice. 'They tried to force his knowledge of the Legendary Pokémon and their locations out of him, but he wouldn't tell, so they killed him in cold blood.'

The boy's flat monotone cut through Sammy and Agatha like a knife. Sammy realised with a shock that the boy must be Alfonso Rocketto's son, Giovanni. He looked at Agatha, and knew that she had come to the same conclusion. She walked forward, as though to place her arms around the child.

'I'm sorry-' she said, but Giovanni pushed away from her.

'They all say that. They all say they are sorry for my loss, and that they feel my pain, but they don't. They think my father was a liar and a criminal. They think I will grow up to be the same, but I know that I can't trust any of them. If I want anything, you have to do it yourself, you can't rely on anyone.' Bitterness leaked out of the young boy's words. Agatha stepped back from him, close to tears.

'But we're not like that! We really do want to help!' Sammy said. 'You can't just shut everyone out! That won't help you, or anyone! We can help, and I swear from the bottom of my heart that I will find your father's murderers, and I will bring them to justice!' By the end of this rant, he was pacing up and down Giovanni's room, almost shouting. The young boy looked up, eyes still dark and sad, but with a new gleam of hope.

'You really mean that, don't you?' he said wonderingly. 'If you really want to help, they were heading towards Mount Silver. If you hurry, you might still be able to catch them.' With one look between them, Sammy and Agatha turned, and ran back down the hallway towards the exit. Back in his room, Giovanni looked out the window.

'Maybe… I was wrong…'

The ghost of a smile appeared on his face.

Sammy ran through the hallways with Agatha in tow, ducking and weaving through the small groups of people. On the stairwell between floors one and two, they saw Joy heading up the stairs holding two Pokéballs.

'There you are! Your Pokémon are fully hea-' she began brightly.

'Thanksgottagobye!' said Sammy, breezing past her, grabbing Growlithe's Pokéball.

Joy was ruffled by this, and was just getting over it when Agatha ran past as well, grabbing the ball containing her Ekans. 'A thank you would be nice!' she called to Agatha, who was sprinting through the streets out of Viridian after Sammy. 'Kids these days…' she muttered.

As they ran through the small hills outside Viridian, Agatha caught up with Sammy.

'So, what's the plan?' she asked breathlessly.

'Go in, find the criminals, beat them, and bring them to the Viridian police,' Sam said.

"Right. And why are we doing this again instead of leaving it to the authorities?" Agatha asked.

"Because we're a couple of stupid kids who don't know any better?" Sam replied.

Agatha smiled. 'Sounds good to me!' she said, fishing in her pocket for Ekans's Pokéball, and Sammy did the same. They continued running until they found, at the base of Mount Silver, a small group of men in dark clothing. Their uniform consisted of a black leather jacket embossed with an interlocked LE in gold, surrounded by three spheres; red, blue, and yellow- the fabled orbs of Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos! Under the jacket they wore white shirt and long dark pants. The men seemed to be arguing about something.

'Now the cops are onto us, what do we do?' said one of the men, a Furrety looking one.

One of his cohorts, a big burly man with a scar running down from his eye to his cheek, hit him. 'Coward! If the police come, we will defeat them! We will be indestructible once we reach our goal!' he yelled as the smaller man fell to the ground.

Another man walked up to him, this one with a pinched looking face, like he was in permanent disapproval. 'Yes, but we haven't reached that point yet. And may I remind you that the police outnumber our little taskforce at the moment, so it isn't wise to go around provoking fights with them.'

The scarred man turned around, fist raised. 'Say that to my face, you filthy little-'

'Stop,' said a tall man who had thus far been removed from the tensions between the three men. He had high cheekbones in an angled face, with harsh, cruel, amber eyes, and silver hair, although this was evidently not from age, as the man looked to be in his late twenties. He was wearing the same uniform as the others, but was clearly in charge, as seen by the deference shown to him by the three, who backed away from each other in nervous fear.

'You fools.' He continued in a soft, yet immeasurably cruel voice. 'You injure each other for the pettiest of reasons, while the Viridian police are still on our tails. IDIOTS!' he yelled, and even the scar faced man cringed and flinched back from his fury. 'We drew attention to ourselves in Viridian, which was admittedly, unwise when we brought so few of us. When we make our next move, it will be in Pewter-I have interest in its museum. We will be better prepared then. Come, let us retreat through the mountain. We can plan there.' He stepped elegantly down and away from the three men, and began walking towards the cave entrance to Mount Silver.

'No!' shouted Sammy angrily. 'You aren't leaving here without paying for what you did!' He released Growlithe from its Pokéball, who at first was bewildered, but then saw the men and growled softly at them in a half crouch. Agatha stood beside him, Ekans hissing at her side.

The leader looked up at them coolly. 'Yet another trainer trying to bring me to justice-and so young, too! You can't have been out here for more than a week!' His underlings laughed thuggishly. 'Deal with them. Amuse me,' he said, eyes glinting with malevolence. He stood back at the mountain entrance, watching.

The criminal with the pinched face spoke up. 'You heard the boss! Send out your Pokémon!' he said, releasing a Zubat, which fluttered in the air.

'Right!' said the Furret-faced one, sending out a Rattata, while the scarred one grunted and released a Rhyhorn, which pawed the ground, sending clouds of dust flying.

Furret face made the first move. 'Rattata, tackle that Ekans!' The rodent complied, building up speed for a collision.

Agatha smirked. 'Ekans, dodge, then use Wrap and Bite together!' As the Rattata approached, the snake dodged out of the way, leading the Normal type to crash into a tree. As it recovered, Ekans wrapped its coils around its lower body and unleashed a wicked Bite attack. The rodent shrieked in pain, struggling to escape the snake.

The scarred trainer laughed thuggishly. 'Rhyhorn, use Take Down on that pathetic Growlithe!'

'Growlithe, Ember!' yelled Sammy as the Rhyhorn began to charge at his Pokémon. Growlithe fired a small burst of flames at the rhino, but they splashed harmlessly off its hide. Growlithe was so focused on his attack that he didn't notice his charging opponent, who barreled through the flames and collided with Growlithe, sending the smaller Puppy Pokémon flying a few meters before he collided with the ground, throwing up a small dust cloud. Rhyhorn, however, continued running until it collided with a tree, lodging its horn deep inside.

Scarface didn't seem to notice the damage taken by his Pokémon, and laughed again. 'Rock beats fire, rookie. You'd know this if you'd been training Pokémon for more than a couple of days!' he taunted.

Sammy was incensed. 'We can beat you anyway! We don't need a type advantage, do we, Growlithe? ' he addressed his Pokémon, who had risen shakily to his feet.

'Lithe!' it barked in agreement.

However, despite his bravado, he was sincerely worried for his Pokémon.

_Growlithe's Ember did nothing to it! I can't even touch it! I need a plan…_Sammy thought furiously. Then he noticed Rhyhorn pulling its head out of the tree. It looked dazed, and the rock armor on its head had small cracks running through it.

_That's it! Growlithe can't injure it, so we have to make it injure itself!_

This thought gave Sammy new hope- Rhyhorn could be damaged, he wasn't completely doomed!

He smirked. 'Growlithe, use Swagger!' he shouted. Growlithe tensed up, and Rhyhorn glowed a sickly red, which made the criminal's Pokémon close its eyes in reflex. When they opened, they were bloodshot and red. It bellowed in rage, and chased down Growlithe, glowing with the light of a Take Down attack. Growlithe leaped nimbly out of the way, wincing slightly as he landed, and Rhyhorn collided with another tree. Sammy smirked again. 'We've got this one in the bag!' he exulted, as Scarface looked shocked.

As Ekans drew a tighter hold against Rattata, it sunk its fangs deeper into the rodent's flesh. The Normal type was near the breaking point, when the man with the pinched face's Zubat swooped overhead.

'Zubat, use Confuse Ray!' the man yelled. Twin helixes of golden light shot out of Zubat's eyes and hit Ekans. The effect was immediate. Ekans opened its yellow eyes, dazed, and released the Rattata from its hold. As the rat gasped for breath, ribs aching in severe pain, the Zubat came over for another pass, using Leech Life to draw out the Poison type's energy.

'Oh no! Ekans!' screeched Agatha. 'Use Poison Sting in a spray!' The snake hissed foggily and opened its mouth to release a spray of poisonous barbs…in the opposite direction of its opponents. Agatha sweatdropped. 'This is gonna take a while…'

As Agatha struggled with her two opponents, Growlithe continued playing matador with Rhyhorn. The rock type, enraged due to Swagger, continued chasing Growlithe, but had too little in the way of reflexes to avoid crashing into trees when Growlithe dodged his Take Downs. Scarface was desperately trying to regain control of his Pokémon.

'Snap out of it, Rhyhorn! Use Rock Throw!' He yelled, but it was no use. Rhyhorn was too angered by Swagger to listen to his trainer, and so continued using Take Down in the vain hope that it would hit Growlithe. However, Growlithe was too quick, nimbly jumping over the clumsy attacks, and peppering the rhino with Ember attacks. Scarface began to sweat. If it kept going on like this, he was going to lose to this kid! In desperation, he ordered the one move that he was sure wouldn't miss.

'Rhyhorn, use Earthquake!'

The battle was going badly for Ekans. It was taking heavy damage from its enemies, and was only dealing glancing damage. However, both of its enemies had successfully been hit by Poison Stings, which damaged them over time. Even so, Agatha was unsure if Ekans would be able to remain conscious long enough for the Stings to have much of an effect.

'Ekans, try to hit Rattata with a Bite!' yelled Agatha, sweating bullets. The snake hissed and jumped towards its opponents. However, due to its Confusion, it missed its original target of Rattata, and instead its jaws latched on to Zubat's small legs. This extra weight proved too much for Zubat to handle effectively, as the bat had to flap extra hard in order to remain airborne, and kept ducking and falling. By some miracle, Ekans managed to remain holding on. However, on the ground, Rattata was charging up for a wicked Hyper Fang, which if connected, would most likely knock out the battered snake.

However, by sheer luck, this was when Rhyhorn's Earthquake hit the battlefield, opening up cracks and fissures in the earth, and thrusting up rocks from the ground. This damage was too powerful for Rattata to sustain, and the Normal type fell unconscious. Furret-face stood in shock that his Pokémon had been defeated, as he returned his damaged Pokémon to his ball.

Growlithe, however, did not find the effects of the earthquake fortuitous at all. Unlike Ekans, Growlithe was bound to the ground, and so took the whole force of the attack. It took all of Growlithe's willpower to stay conscious as the earth shook around him. His vision blurring, he vaguely made out the shape of Rhyhorn barreling towards him at full pelt, and this time, Growlithe was too stunned to dodge. He lay sprawled in the dirt, waiting for the terrible impact, squeezing his eyes shut to brace for the impact… that didn't come. The Puppy Pokémon opened one eye. It appeared that Rhyhorn had missed, and hit one of the rock pillars that had sprung up from the Earthquake, and its horn had lodged in it. As the rocky monster tried to extricate itself from the product of its own attack, Growlithe limped slowly towards it. Its adversary looked to be in bad shape. Its rocky armour was cracked, and in one place, completely broken off, revealing the soft pink skin underneath. Its massive form heaved with every breath it took. Growlithe looked at it, struggling to remain standing.

'Growlithe, use Bite on the part where the armour has broken off! Finish this!' yelled Sammy. Growlithe half barked, half whimpered in pain, and sunk its teeth into the exposed skin. Rhyhorn bellowed, thrashing around, but Growlithe held on firm until the struggles ceased and the Rock type keeled over unconscious. Sammy's Pokémon stepped back, amazed at what it had wrought.

Scarface howled in rage. 'HOW COULD I LOSE TO YOU! YOU SHOULD HAVE LOST! RHYHORN SHOULD HAVE CRUSHED YOU AND YOUR PATHETIC PUPPY! AAARGH!' Practically frothing at the mouth from anger, he returned his defeated Pokémon. Growlithe collapsed into the dirt, not defeated, but severely weakened.

Ekans released its grip on Zubat's leg from exhaustion, falling to the ground with a soft thump. The eyeless bat swooped down, and used Wing Attack on the battered snake. To Ekans' credit, it managed to score a powerful hit against the bat's left wing, but still was knocked back on the ground, and collapsed. Agatha returned her Pokémon. 'Don't worry, Ekans.' She murmured softly to the Pokéball containing the snake. 'You did your best.'

She tucked the Pokéball into her belt, and grinned ruefully at Sammy. 'It's all on you and Growlithe now! Do it! And make that bat pay!'

Growlithe stared down Zubat. They both were heavily damaged, barely able to remain standing, or in Zubat's case, flying. They both released their attacks at the same time, Growlithe an Ember, and Zubat a Gust. However, possibly due to exhaustion, Zubat's Gust careered wildly off-course, while Growlithe's Ember hit dead on. The bat shuddered, and then fainted to the ground.

'YES! We won, Growlithe!' Sammy exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. He ran over to his Pokémon, and sprayed a Super Potion over it. Flesh healed, fur grew back, and broken claws mended themselves as Growlithe was fully healed. The duo looked up at the man with the silver hair, who was glaring at his subordinates, his eyes akin to chips of ice.

'You lost. To a pair of children. Pathetic.' He paced over to them. 'If you want something done right…' He took a Pokéball from his belt. 'If you want to take me in, child, you must first defeat me.'

In a flash of red light, an enormous Pokémon appeared. It was dark purple, and stood erect. It had a long, sharp horn on its head, and spines leading down its back. Its arms were massive, and ended in claws. 'NIDOKING!' It roared to the heavens.

Sammy's mind was racing. _Nidoking's armour is even thicker that Rhyhorn's, and it's even bigger. Still, I think I might be able to pull this off._

'Growlithe, use-' Sammy began, but the man interrupted.

'Nidoking, Hyper Beam.' He commanded softly. The great beast roared, and an enormous beam of orange energy built up in its mouth and was released, creating a huge explosion that shook the earth, causing small rock slides on the mountain above them.

Sammy shielded his face from the shattered debris, and was shocked to see Growlithe fly out of the explosion; fur charred and in some places completely burned off. It appeared that at least one of its legs was broken, and Sammy could see the blinding white of bone protruding from its stomach. It was still alive, but this could only be told because of the slight rise and fall of its chest. Sammy looked up from his fallen partner tearfully. 'WHAT ARE YOU?! HOW CAN YOU DO THESE THINGS!' he screamed in anger, pure hate in his eyes.

The man smiled coldly. 'I am Finis, the leader of LegEnd. I am but a man, for now-and I do these things because no one can stop me.' He said with menace. 'I find the unnecessary death of children distasteful, but I promise you, if you meddle with us again, it will be the last thing you ever do. After all, in what sane world could a child destroy a criminal organisation?'

With those chilling words, Finis left through the tunnel into Mount Silver, his three cronies following behind him. Sammy and Agatha heard Nidoking roar, and a smash came from inside the cavern, collapsing the entrance to the tunnel behind the criminals. Sammy slumped down on the grass, cradling Growlithe's body. 'We failed,' he said bleakly. 'We couldn't defeat them, we couldn't avenge Giovanni's dad… all we did was nearly get ourselves and our Pokémon killed.' He slumped lower into the grass. 'We're useless.' He returned Growlithe into its Pokéball, his eyes looking hollow, the same look he had seen in the eyes of Giovanni.

Agatha saw her friend spiral deeper into despair and self-loathing, and so took him by the shoulders. 'Listen to me, Sammy. No one could have beaten that guy without years of training. We're still just rookies. But remember, we will see these guys again, if not in Pewter, then later, and we willbring them to justice. Trust me.' Sammy looked up, and got a steely new look of determination in his eyes. A ghost of a smile flickered on his face.

'You're right, Agatha. There's no point beating ourselves up too much over it. All we can hope for is to be better prepared and stronger next time. Come on. We have to get back to Viridian.' He stood up, and stepped towards Viridian. Agatha smiled. He still wasn't quite back to his normal self, but it was a start. She followed him.

Giovanni Rocketto sat in his room in the hotel, watching the entrance to the path to Mount Silver, watching for a sign that the criminals that had ripped apart his family had been brought to justice. His heart leapt as he saw Sammy emerge from the path into the city, but fell when he saw the look of sadness, his drooped posture, and above all, the lack of the murderers defeated and in tow. He felt as though his heart had been run over by a steamroller. He had opened up, and allowed himself to hope, and then had been disappointed, as always.

'You can't trust anyone.' He whispered, and the look in his eyes grew angry and jaded. 'If you want anything, you have to do it for yourself.' He backed away from the window, and resumed the posture he had been in before Sammy and Agatha came.

'You can't trust anyone.'

**So that's a wrap for the longest chapter yet, eh? What did you think? And thanks to Ri2 for helping me with ideas for this chapter. Please review!**

**Next Time- Viridian Forest**


	5. Viridian Forest

**Viridian Forest**

**Hey guys! I'll try to get updates out about once a week! Anyway, on with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

**...**

Sammy woke early after a fitful sleep on his second day in Viridian. The police had given up on finding LegEnd after Sammy and Agatha had recounted the events of the night before. They had conducted a search of the mountain, but by the time they cleared the rubble from the entrance, the criminals were long gone. Giovanni was more reclusive even than before. He refused to leave the room or talk to anyone, even Sammy and Agatha. _Especially_ Sammy and Agatha. He blamed them for their failure, a sentiment shared by Sammy himself. Agatha had tried to cheer him up, but to no avail-even she could not assuage all of the guilt that the brown-haired teen felt. To make things worse, he had tried to call his father, but there was no response from the phone. This saddened Sammy, and almost made him regret leaving for his journey- almost. He stifled a groan, and then forced himself into a sitting position. He rubbed his eyes blearily, blinking fuzzily as he took in the surroundings of his hotel room. It contained a small cupboard, a chest of drawers, and a bed. Something caught his eye in the corner of the room. It was a slip of paper, which had been pushed through the bottom of the door. Sammy immediately went over to have a look. He immediately recognized the handwriting as Agatha's.

_Hey Sammy! You were asleep when I wrote this, so I decided not to wake you. Anyway, by the time you read this, I will be gone. I went to Viridian Forest to get some training in, so I can win next time we face off! I'll see you in Pewter!_

_P.S. Stop moping about the LegEnd thing, no trainer with as little experience as we have could have stopped them-there was nothing you could do._

_P.P.S. I got Joy to bring up Growlithe's Pokéball._

_P.P.P.S. You still owe me 20 Poké._

Sammy put down the letter with a slight smile on his face. He picked up Growlithe's ball, got out of his pyjamas, put on his travelling clothes, slung his backpack across his shoulder, and exited the room. He checked Giovanni's room, but it was locked, and there was no sign of the boy. He thanked Joy, and exited the hotel. He released Growlithe from his ball, and the canine Pokémon ran around him, barking happily at lamp-posts, as the boy strode purposefully towards the large, dark, cluster of trees that lay ahead of him.

**…**

The forest was dark, wet and musty. Pokémon calls echoed through it, and brief flurries of movement in the corner of Sammy's vision marked their presence. The trees spread above him, their branches, like arms, rose up to the sky. Sammy shivered. It was very cold. Growlithe walked behind him, tail between his legs, looking like he was close to whimpering. Sammy rubbed his Pokémon's head. 'I know, I know…I don't like this either, buddy.'

Growlithe nudged his ball with his snout urgently, obviously wishing to go inside, but Sammy shook his head. 'Sorry, boy, I need you out here. You're one of the only things keeping me warm enough to keep going,' he said ruefully.

And it was true. Growlithe's natural body warmth as a Fire type extended in a small bubble around him, so Sammy stayed nearby. So far, his plan had worked. He wasn't warm, per se, but it kept the worst of the cold out.

'The sooner we get out of this forest, the better…' muttered Sammy under his breath. Growlithe whimpered in agreement as they kept walking. They didn't seem to be making much progress. Due to the lack of distinguishing landmarks, for all they knew, they could be going around in circles. Sammy squinted forwards into the gloom. 'I hope Aggie's ok…' he mumbled softly to himself. Growlithe's head turned towards him, and the canine gave a short bark, almost like laughter. Sammy's face burned in embarrassment. 'I didn't mean it like… We're just friends, ok? JUST FRIENDS!' The teen was almost shouting by the end of his proclamation, and Growlithe was rolling around on the forest floor in mirth. 'Why am I even having this conversation…?' Sammy muttered to himself as his Pokémon got over himself and stood up.

'C'mon Growlithe, there's still a long way to go.' Sammy told the Fire type, but just as they began to walk again, there was an explosion to their left, and a huge tree toppled down into their path with a crack of breaking branches and splintering wood. As Sammy stepped back in shock from the dust cloud that arose from the collision, Growlithe jumped in front of his trainer protectively, growling and looking for their assailant. However, after a few moments, he saw something moving in the fog. He turned towards it quickly…and was hit on the snout by a large orb of greenish-black energy, which knocked him back into Sammy, sending the duo both flat on the ground. High, tinny laughter, as though from multiple voices, echoed from the fog.

Growlithe regained his feet, and began shooting Embers into the fog, but was hit by another orb.

'Growlithe, stop!' Sammy commanded his Pokémon. 'We're not getting anywhere like this… Growlithe, use Roar!' The canine obliged, puffing out his chest and releasing a huge sonic blast from his mouth, with force enough to make a Pokémon flee or return to its ball. However, as it had no particular target, the force from the Puppy Pokémon's mouth continued in all directions, blowing away the dust cloud and revealing their assailant, a small, pink Pokémon, a little more than a foot tall, with six heads. It bore a resemblance to a bunch of eggs, which all had cracks in them apart from the one in the centre. Each of the heads has triangular eyes and small mouths. It was an Exeggcute. Growlithe took one look at their small enemy and burst out laughing. The Egg Pokémon didn't take that well, and the central egg unleashed another orb, larger than any before, towards Growlithe, knocking Sammy's Pokémon into a tree behind him with enough force to shake it. Now that the attack was in the open, Sammy recognized as a Barrage.

_What power for such a small Pokémon!_Sammy thought in wonder. _It would do great as a new teammate!_

'Growlithe, use Roar again on the Exeggcute!' Sammy yelled. This time, the force was concentrated, and hit Exeggcute hard enough to break the cluster apart.

'Divide and conquer, Growlithe!' Sammy exulted. 'We've got them now!'

Growlithe rushed towards one of the eggs that had been on the edges and used a Bite attack, lodging his fangs into the egg just as a telepathic force created by the central egg began to bring the cluster back together. Sammy was shocked, not expecting this.

'Growlithe, don't let go!' Sammy yelled. Growlithe whimpered as the psychic shocks ran through his system and the Grass/Psychic Pokémon tried to pull itself together. Growlithe's struggle was made even harder by the egg in his mouth fighting back, almost cracking the Puppy Pokémon's teeth. Within a few seconds, however, the rest of the cluster had almost completely reformed, and Growlithe's egg had stopped moving, although the telepathic movement continued, getting stronger as each egg joined.

'Growlithe, you can drop it now!' Sammy said. The canine woofed through the egg in its mouth, and let it fall to the ground, covered in spittle. However, before it hit the ground, it was swept up by psychic power and flew towards the cluster, appearing unconscious in contrast to the other eggs. The Exeggcute screeched in anger, and unleashed another Barrage. However, the orbs were smaller this time and moved slower, so Growlithe was able to evade them with difficulty, which frustrated the Egg Pokémon, who continued to fire.

_So it is weaker now that one of the eggs is knocked out… That's good; Growlithe won't be taking as many hits now. Maybe I can knock out a few more…_thought Sammy.

'Growlithe, Roar again!' Sammy commanded, but the Exeggcute had caught onto this trick, and redirected the force with a Confusion, throwing Growlithe's attack back in his face and sending him flying backwards into a tree. The Exeggcute laughed again.

_Ok, since that won't work anymore…_'Growlithe, try an Ember, aim for one of the eggs on the outside!' said Sammy. Growlithe exhaled a burst of flame which travelled quickly towards the Exeggcute, who dissipated it with Confusion. Growlithe, not to be deterred, lunged towards the smaller Pokémon, fangs glowing with a Bite attack. The Exeggcute, despite its formidable psychic senses and power, had little in the way of physical defences and speed, and so was nearly helpless to the Puppy Pokémon's onslaught. Growlithe grabbed hold of one of the eggs in his mouth again and unleashed an Ember which knocked it out, just as the force holding the cluster together pulled it back. The Grass/Psychic Pokémon's remaining eggs' eyes looked woozy, half-lidded. It tried to form a Barrage attack, but it backfired and exploded in its faces. This impact blasted the eggs completely apart again, and there was only a slight movement which slowly pulled the eggs back together.

Sammy recalled Growlithe, and hooked his Pokéball onto his belt. He then walked over to the former central egg, crouching down to speak to it. 'I think you've lost this one,' Sammy said softly. 'How about you come with me, hey? I can help you become stronger.' Sammy held out an empty Pokéball in askance. The Egg Pokémon had reconnected itself, and all of the conscious eggs were staring at the trainer. 'What do you say?' he asked. The Exeggcute moved forwards, and the central egg touched its head against Sammy's Pokéball, enveloping it in a burst of red light. When the light cleared, the Exeggcute was gone, and all that was left was Sammy, holding the ball containing his new Pokémon.

Sammy smiled, and released it again in a burst of red light. 'Come on, I'd better heal you,' he said, spraying the eggs with a Super Potion, healing its wounds and re-energising it. The Exeggcute laughed and fired a Barrage in the air in excitement. 'Can you help us find a way out?' asked Sammy, and the Exeggcute nodded (Somehow), and moved away, towards the north. Sammy released Growlithe as well, and the two ran off, bounding after their new teammate.

**…**

**Well, how about that! Sammy has a new teammate, and is getting over his angst over his loss to LegEnd. Please review!**

**Next Time- Pewter, City of Stone.**

**_-LordMagikarp_**


	6. Pewter, City of Stone

Pewter, City of Stone

Hey, I'm back! Same old drill, I don't own Pokémon, constructive criticism is appreciated but flames aren't, and reviews are always appreciated.

P.S. I have ROM hacking tools on my computer, and I am considering hacking a ROM of FireRed to be the game of this story, and to be released onto the internet once the story is over/I have worked out the plot in more detail. Any thoughts?

…

Sammy and his two Pokémon forced their way through the thick vines hanging down from the canopy of Viridian Forest, dodging over tree roots, pushing past low branches, and defeating wild Pokémon that got in their way. Nothing about the forest seemed to have changed in any way, but Sammy found it a lot less creepy than it had been before he had seen Exeggcute. He supposed it was due to his newfound knowledge that they were going the right way, and they weren't simply walking in circles. The wild Pokémon calls, which had seemed vaguely creepy to begin with, were a lot less scary when it was revealed that they were created by Rattata and Pidgey. In fact, the forest was quite easy to traverse after the mystery surrounding it had diminished. The most trouble the small group had was a swarm of Beedrill that had chased them, taking them off the track, and costing hours for the heroes to find one another again. All Sammy would say on the subject later to Agatha was 'It was all Growlithe's fault' and the aforementioned Fire type would only turn red (well, redder than usual), and refuse to disclose anything. However, that embarrassing incident had been a number of hours ago, and (for the most part) the group was at peace again. Sammy had settled into a stride, and Growlithe padded along behind him. Exeggcute in the lead, and the two were following him.

'Exe! 'Exegg! Egg! Cute!' yelled the Egg Pokémon, knocking Sammy out of his lull, and snapping him to attention. He squinted through the gloom at what Exeggcute was staring at. He gasped. A light was filtering through the trees, and it looked unnatural, manmade. The boy started running towards the light, as did Growlithe. Exeggcute propelled itself with its psychic powers onto the canine's back, getting a free ride. As they drew closer to the light, Sammy saw that it was the entrance to a small passage, which led into a city. Sammy supposed that it was to keep the more disagreeable wild Pokémon out. Sammy walked through the tunnel, footsteps echoing loudly behind him. When he emerged, he saw a number of other trainers sitting in a room, not unlike a hospital waiting room. A number of them were nursing cuts, broken limbs, and/or wounded Pokémon. While Sammy stared, a Nurse Joy bustled up to them.

'Just came through the forest?' she asked briskly. 'Yes, yes, I can see all the dirt and muck on you and your Pokémon.' She inspected Sammy critically for injuries, and did the same to his Pokémon. 'I dare say that you are a lot better off than the others who come through here, we had to place a hospice just at the entrance to the city to deal with all of their injuries,' She said after a moment, somewhat impressed. 'Come on, hand over your Pokémon, they still look like they could use some healing.'

Somewhat reluctantly, Sammy recalled Growlithe and Exeggcute to their Pokéballs and placed them on a small tray proffered by the nurse, who walked away. Somewhat dejected, Sammy sat down on a bench next to a dark haired girl, who was holding her arm in a way that suggested it had been sprained. She also had dozens of cuts all over her arms, but luckily, only a few looked as though they were going to scar. She turned towards Sammy, and a flash of recognition shone in both of their eyes.

'Sammy!/Aggie!' they gasped together.

'What happened?' Sammy asked in shock at Agatha's injuries.

She shook her head sadly. 'I was an idiot.' She said bluntly. 'A little while after I arrived and booked a hotel room I heard a huge crash from outside, at the Pewter Museum. I came out,and saw Finis and his Nidoking smashing through the wall, and a big group of people wearing the same outfit as him. The police were occupied trying to stop the majority of LegEnd, but I went after Finis. What an idiot I am!' Agatha cursed her own naïveté.

'What happened then?' asked Sammy tentatively.

Agatha grimaced. 'He went further in, Nidoking breaking down walls as he found them. Once he reached the exhibit on Legendary Pokemon, he got Nidoking to take down a huge stone tablet on the wall. That's when I stepped in, trying to play the hero. Finis just laughed, and released a Kabutops from its ball. I thought I could beat it, I really did! I had a double type advantage with my newest Pokémon, a Bulbasaur-'

Agatha was cut off. 'You caught a Bulbasaur in the forest? They're _really_rare!' Sammy said in awe.

Agatha shushed him. 'Yes, yes, I'm awesome, I know, but Kabutops was too strong. It nearly _killed_Bulbasaur with its Ancientpower. It would have, if I hadn't recalled him just in time. But since the attack didn't hit its target, it exploded, causing portions of the building to collapse. I barely escaped from the building with my life. When the dust cleared, Finis was gone, but I'm certain he made it out unharmed.' Agatha nearly had tears in her eyes at this point, and it looked as though she had been crying earlier. 'Damn it Sammy, what are we going to do!' she shouted in frustration and sadness. 'We can barely even keep our Pokémon _alive_ against these guys, let alone stop them! If this keeps on happening, we're going to _die_ doing this, and so are our Pokémon!'

Agatha stood up, staring down at Sammy, wide eyed. Sammy looked up at her, voice calm, but eyes sad. 'Agatha, you told me earlier, when we lost to LegEnd for the first time, that no-one with as little experience as we had could have stopped them. The same holds true now. Finis has probably been a trainer for many years, judging by the strength of his Pokémon. We just have to keep training and growing stronger, and eventually, we will be strong enough to stop them. Just don't give up.' Sammy finished kindly, and Agatha sat down, all of the wind taken out of her sails.

'You're right, Sammy. Moping won't fix anything. Come on, let's see if we can find out more about what LegEnd was after here,' she said, standing back up again, grabbing Sammy's hand and pulling him to his feet. Sammy smiled and allowed himself to be pulled off towards the remains of the Pewter Museum.

…

When they arrived, Sammy gaped at the destruction. The museum, once a high, arched structure, was now in disrepair, with holes ripped through the walls, parts that had completely collapsed, and scorch marks, broken vines, boulders, and puddles of water lay on the ground outside, a memento of the vicious battle the Pewter Police Department had with LegEnd troops. The curator of the museum was also standing outside, tears in his eyes. He was a tall, elegant man. He had black, coifed hair, and well-manicured pianist's fingers. He was wearing a dark suit, which put Sammy and Agatha in mind of a mourner at a funeral.

Sammy walked up to him, and tapped him on the shoulder. 'Um, excuse me sir, but we're interested in what happened to the Museum,' said Sammy tentatively.

The curator's eyes filled with sadness-fuelled rage. 'Priceless works of art, pieces of history and the past, gone forever! Forever! No longer will people be able to see the Scepter of Pokélantis, orthe greatest depiction of Moltres by the greatest mind ever to live, Leonard of Vanca! They're ALL GONE!' the man screamed.

Sammy took a step back. Agatha stepped forward to take his place. 'Sir, the criminals took a huge tablet from the museum's Legendary Pokémon section. We want to know what it was. We thought, only you, with your _extensive_ knowledge of the historical things in the museum, would know _all_about it, when no-one else did.' She batted her eyelids and smiled her sweetest smile.

The curator's rage ebbed. He stepped back, flattered. 'Well, let's see… the Legendary exhibit… That would be the tablet of Al-Arish, which shows the most common locations that are sacred to specific Legendaries… It is written in some dead language that no-one on earth can understand, but it still has value.' He blinked. 'Is that all you came for?'

Agatha smiled gratefully. 'Thank you, sir, you've been very helpful.' She turned and walked away, and Sammy followed her. As soon as the curator was out of earshot, they began talking.

'So, LegEnd is interested in finding the Legendaries, and using them for… something,' Sammy mused. '

Well, that's kind of obvious from the name, isn't it Sammy?' said Agatha playfully. She lapsed back into her serious persona. 'So we have to find the Legendaries, and protect them from Finis and the rest.'

'Right.' Agreed Sammy. 'Come on, we can think about this later. Right now, we have to rest up, and get our Pokémon back from Joy.' The duo continued back towards the hospice.

...

_In LegEnd's secret base…_

Four people were gathered around a large table. A beautiful woman with sleek, dark hair and green eyes, wearing a black, form-fitting suit embossed with the LegEnd symbol sat on one end, an elegant black Ninetales by her side, glaring out haughtily at the other people at the table. This was Celine, the greatest assassin and spy in the organization. Opposite her was Duncan, a man with spiky black hair, tawny eyes, and a massive, muscular build. He was wearing a slight variation on the normal uniform of the organization; he had no leather jacket, and instead wore a black, close fitting T-shirt bearing the LegEnd logo. Behind him was a truly massive Blastoise, who had been armored with metal plates to increase its already formidable strength. He was the leader and main trainer of the troops of LegEnd. The last seated person was Lucius, who was built more slightly in comparison to Duncan. He also wore a variation to the normal uniform, namely wearing it in inverse colors, with long white pants, a black top, and a white leather jacket. He had short, dark red hair, and an angular looking face, with odd yellow eyes. Behind him stood his own partner, a Sandslash. He was a scientist, and an accomplished Pokémon hunter. Finally, standing up behind the last spare seat on the table, was Finis. His enormous Nidoking deposited the tablet stolen from the museum on the table, causing it to shake.

Finis recalled the purple monster, and addressed his subordinates. 'The operation in Pewter city was successful. I must congratulate you, Duncan, you trained your troops exceedingly well, not one of them was captured.'

The muscular man grinned. 'That was my newest lot, too, I've only trained them for a couple of weeks. After just a little time with me, they no longer fear anything but me- I'm worse than what's out there.'

Celine sniffed daintily in disgust. 'You are a brainless brute. You may be strong, and a good battler, but you have less brains than a walnut.'

Lucius smirked, as Duncan began to rise, but Finis raised his hand, and that was all it took for them all to sit back down again. 'The information that Lucius has been able to translate from this tablet will be very useful to our cause,' continued Finis. A hologram projected into hard light appeared in the air, showing pictures of each of the Legendary Pokémon. 'These are images of the Legendaries of both Kanto and Johto. As we have no strong foothold there, the Legendary Beasts are out of our reach, as they never depart their home region.' The pictures of Entei, Raikou, and Suicune disappeared. 'Likewise, Lugia sightings are never far from Shamouti Island and the Whirl Islands, so we will not be able to obtain them.' The image of Lugia disappeared. 'Mew has not been seen for decades, so that leaves Moltres, Articuno, Zapdos, Ho-oh and Celebi as the only remaining options for us. I suggest Celebi to be our next target, as she is seen fairly often in comparison to the others, and has some of the most power.' The picture of Celebi ballooned up to a huge size as the others vanished. 'Celebi is often seen in forests all around both regions, and presumably all over the world. Lucius has been working on a way to find in advance where she will appear.'

The redheaded man stood up. 'Whenever there is a disturbance in the timestream, such as when Celebi travels through time, temporal ripples are created. With the right machine, these ripples could be detected, and the source could be found in advance. Therefore, we could find Celebi and have an ambush waiting for her, allowing her to be obtained,' he finished with a cool smile.

Duncan grinned. 'So when you find Celebi, we bash 'er up with Dark and Fire types until we can catch her! I like this plan!'

'It does seem to have a high possibility of succeeding,' conceded Celine.

Lucius smiled. 'So if we are all in agreement?' he asked his boss.

Finis nodded. 'We shall capture Celebi, and if Lucius's _other_project is ready…' Finis trailed off, and looked over to the redhead, who nodded in agreement. 'We will be _invincible.'_ Finis finished with relish, and laughed coldly. His subordinates joined in, thinking of the glorious power that they would soon attain.

…

And that's a wrap! What did you think?

-_LordMagikarp_


	7. Mount Moon

Mount Moon

Sammy awoke early in the large hostel above the hospice, which the town's Nurse Joy kindly provided to all visiting trainers for free. The room was cramped, and moans of pain from the patients below occasionally permeated the room, but it was better than nothing. The buzz of chatter was already beginning to fill the room, as the other occupants awoke. Sammy groaned and hoisted himself out of bed. The floorboards felt cold on his bare feet as he stood, rummaging around in his bag for his shoes. He was already in his clothes, not having bothered with changing after the energy taken from him by his exploits in the forest had caught up to him. He pulled on his shoes and walked down the stairs. He collected his Pokéballs from Joy and began to walk towards the door.

"You do look quite young to be out by yourself," called Nurse Joy from behind Sammy. The brown-haired teen froze. "Isn't there someone back home who is worried about you?" the nurse continued. This made Sammy think. The initial exhilaration of his journey had blown worry of how his father might take it from his mind. A profound sense of guilt overwhelmed him. For a fleeting moment, Sammy considered abandoning his journey and returning home, until Giovanni's defeated, angry face rushed through his mind, and Sammy shoved his poisonous thought away. He couldn't give up now, not while LegEnd was still at large.

Still, he did have to speak to his father. Sammy turned back to Joy. "Yes, my father lives in Pallet Town," he said. "Could I use one of the payphones?" The Nurse nodded, and so Sammy moved over to the far wall and began to dial his home number. After a few moments, the static-filled voice of Sammy's father filled the air.

"Hello?" he asked gruffly "Who is this?" Sammy opened his mouth to reply, but found he couldn't quite get the words out properly. Still, after a few moments, he managed to gasp out, "… Hi Dad… its Sammy."

The line went very quiet for a moment, until Sammy's father spoke quietly. "Where are you? Why did you leave? Just come home-I've been worried sick about you." Raw pain was etched into every syllable.

Sammy gulped and steeled himself. "I'm not coming home yet, Dad. I'm in Pewter, and I've already had more adventure than I had in my whole life before setting out." As he heard his father inhale in preparation for a comeback, Sammy began to plead. "I'm going to be OK, dad! I already have two Pokémon, and they've kept me safe!" The teen was almost begging by this point. "Please, Dad, I made a promise to someone-" Giovanni's face flashed through his mind "and I plan to see it through."

Sammy waited with bated breath as he waited for his father to respond. A few moments later, the gruff voice, now choked with tears, echoed out of the receiver. "If you really need to… I just want you to come home, Sammy, and be safe-that's all that I ever wanted. But if you need to see this through… just know that I'll be waiting for you in Pallet Town when this is all over."

Sammy fought back tears, but somehow managed to respond. "I _will_come back someday, I promise. I love you, Dad." Blinking back his tears, he hung up. He straightened, paid Nurse Joy the charge for the phone, and headed out the door. Agatha was waiting at the city limits.

"There you are! You're _always_late!" Agatha said with a smirk.

Sammy's face reddened. "Not everyone gets up in the middle of the night like you, Aggie. Besides, there was something that I had to do." He didn't say more, and Agatha didn't press him.

"So, what can we expect from Mount Moon?" Agatha asked, changing the subject.

"From what I've heard, it will be quite cold, and there will be Zubats. Lots of Zubats." Sammy shuddered at the memory of the traumatized trainers that had turned back from Mount Moon. They were all covered in bite marks, and screamed at the slightest flutter of wings or batlike screeches. "_Too many Zubats."_

"But a good strategy I've heard of is to carry a lighted torch around with you. The Zubats don't like the light." Growlithe barked, and Sammy smiled and ruffled his mane. "Growlithe can re-light the torches if one goes out. We'd better stick together in there, though."

Agatha nodded in agreement. "Alright, lets go."

…

Mount Moon was dark. The sputtering light of the torch illuminated only a small section of the cave, in which Sammy, Agatha, and their Pokémon huddled together. The crackling of the flames was among the only sounds, other than the occasional call of a Zubat, and the unsteady drip of water from the stalactites above. It was eerily quiet.

"How much further is it?" Agatha whispered hoarsely.

"Quite a while. We'll definitely have to stay the night." Sammy whispered back. They continued down a small passageway. As Sammy tried to wriggle his way through, he heard Agatha scream. Sammy turned immediately, and saw Agatha flat on her back, with a Geodude on top of her, and her Bulbasaur beginning a Vine Whip attack, before the torch went out.

…

Sammy had thought that it was dark before, but now that the torch was gone, he could barely see his hand in front of his face. For a few moments, there was silence, but then a screeching sound echoed through the cave, and suddenly the air was full of Zubats, their leathery wings everywhere, one even going in Sammy's mouth. The cave was only illuminated in brief flashes from Growlithe's fire attacks, which made some Zubats retreat each time that they were used, but as soon as they died down, the Bat Pokémon swarmed back in, coming so thick and fast that Sammy couldn't breathe. He was about to lose consciousness, when he saw a bright light through his closed eyes.

_So that's it, then,_Sammy thought foggily. _I'm about to die. I wonder … will it hurt_?

The Zubats seemed to be thinning around him, and the air seemed to be getting hotter. An enormous stream of flames, a Flamethrower attack, rushed past Sammy, scalding his face and breaking him out of his suffocation-induced reverie. The teen stumbled and opened his eyes, blinking foggily. The Zubats were almost all gone, having fled from the intense flames. Growlithe, Exeggcute, Agatha, and her Pokémon were picking themselves off the ground, squinting towards their saviour. It was a little over a meter tall, and looked somewhat like a small dinosaur. Its crimson scales gleamed and shone from the light of the large flame on the tip of its tail, which didn't seem to bother it at all. Its underbelly was cream, and the creature had large claws on both its legs and arms. It was a Charmeleon. Its tail flame had provided a continuous source of light, which kept the Bat Pokémon away for a prolonged length of time, unlike Growlithe's Fire attacks.

Sammy made the first move. He walked towards the Charmeleon, and began to speak. "You saved our lives… thank you. Is there anything that we can do for you in return?" Sammy asked. In answer, the Flame Pokémon pointed to one of the Pokéballs on Sammy's belt.

"Do you want me to catch you?" Sammy asked, as he walked toward the Charmeleon, with a ball in his hand, but the Fire type swatted it away with his claws, growling. It gestured towards Growlithe, who was just picking itself up.

"Oh, you want me to battle you?" Sammy asked, and Charmeleon nodded in agreement. "Alright, lets just get everyone out of the way…" Sammy motioned to Exeggcute, Agatha, and her Pokémon, who quickly moved away. Growlithe jumped in front of his trainer and growled at Charmeleon, who smirked.

"Ok, Growlithe, start this off with Bite!" Sammy commanded. The canine barked and started rushing towards Charmeleon, jaws crackling with Dark energy. Charmeleon merely snorted and swatted away the smaller Puppy Pokémon with a claw, knocking it out of its rush and toppling it to the ground. It then followed up with a Metal Claw, which Growlithe only narrowly dodged.

"Growlithe, confuse it with Swagger!" Sammy shouted. Growlithe put on an intimidating look and glowed red, as did Charmeleon. The taller Pokémon's eyes were full of anger and confusion when they opened, and it began to wildly swipe at Growlithe, caught in the throes of a Rage attack. The Puppy Pokémon dodged as best it could out of the way of the clumsy swipes, but was eventually hit by one, which took a large clump out of its mane. This incensed Growlithe, who began to rush around the angered Charmeleon, Biting and clawing at the confused Pokémon, who was gradually beginning to tire. However, Growlithe's luck couldn't last, as Charmeleon cleared its head, and with a massive Slash attack, tore a deep gouge in Growlithe's side. The canine whimpered in pain, staggering, barely able to maintain its feet as its side bled copiously onto the floor. Charmeleon grinned and moved in for a finishing move, raising its arm for a final Slash attack. It brought its claw down, and Sammy looked away to not see the ugly sight of his Pokémon so defeated and hurt, when he heard a Pokémon's screech of pain. It wasn't Growlithe's.

Sammy opened his eyes quickly and turned back to the battlefield, where he saw Growlithe, jaws latched onto Charmeleon's arm, causing the reptile to swing it around in the hopes of dislodging the smaller Fire type, who sank its fangs in deeper and deeper. But suddenly, just as Sammy thought that he was sure of winning, Charmeleon opened its eyes, which were glowing a deep red, and its tail flame flared up to at least 6 times its normal size.

"Careful, Sammy!" called Agatha from the sidelines. "That's Charmeleon's Blaze! It becomes stronger when it's low on health!"

As Sammy listened to her, Charmeleon finally dislodged Growlithe, sending Sammy's Pokémon flying into a stalagmite. As he struggled to regain his feet, Sammy thought in panic. _Charmeleon's too strong! His ability's made him strong enough to beat Growlithe in one more hit! I need to do something fast, or we'll lose!_All seemed lost, but then a thought occurred to the teen, and a wicked grin spread across his face. _Who says Charmeleon's the only one who can use its ability…_

"Hey, Charmeleon!" Sammy called brashly to the opposing Pokémon. "I bet Growlithe's fire is stronger than yours!" he taunted. The taller Fire type laughed at this perceived foolishness, and shot a massive, Blaze-fuelled Flamethrower at Growlithe. Sammy's Pokémon responded with its own Flamethrower, which was tiny in comparison to the massive deluge of flames created by Charmeleon. The two streams of fire collided in between the combatants, but Charmeleon's fire began pushing Growlithe's back steadily, and eventually caused it to collide with the canine, causing it to scream…not in pain, but in ecstasy, as his own ability, Flash Fire, activated, making his flames even more powerful than Charmeleon's Flamethrower, completely dissipating the other flames, and blasting its rival with the full force of the attack, causing the Flame Pokémon to be flung into a stalagmite, seemingly knocked out. Growlithe stood, panting, wobbly on his feet. Sammy pumped the air with his fist. "We did it, Growlithe! Good-" He was cut off by the sight of Charmeleon emerging from the rubble. Growlithe straightened, growling, as he prepared to fight again, but it was unnecessary, as Charmeleon walked straight past him towards Sammy, and lowered its head in shame.

"Hey, it's ok." Sammy reassured the Fire type. "You were really strong, you just let pride go to your head. We can work on that when you're on my team." He held out a Pokéball, which Charmeleon touched with a claw, recalling him in a flash of red light, leaving the cavern in darkness. However, Sammy let him out after only a moment, so there was no chance for the return of the Zubat swarm. Sammy looked down at the empty Pokéball in his hand. "I'll never understand what it's like in there…" he said as Agatha walked up to him.

"No time to wonder about that, egghead. It's late, we'd better set up camp," she said. Sammy nodded in agreement.

What did you think?

-_LordMagikarp_


	8. Here Be Dragons

**Here Be Dragons**

**Hey, it's me again. I don't own Pokémon, yadda yadda yadda. Please review! Oh, and sorry for the wait—it won't happen again! (Hopefully) At least it's a big one.**

**P.S. My buddy FlameLatias has just joined FF. He's told me his story idea, and it seems pretty solid. I'll notify you guys when his fic comes out, so please review him!**

**On with the show!**

Sammy had a restless night in Mt Moon. There was never any silence from the screeching of the Zubats, only held at bay by the flickering light of Charmeleon's tail flame. Growlithe was huddled up against his trainer, having nosed his way inside the teen's sleeping bag, giving them both warmth in the freezing cave. A few meters away, Agatha and her Bulbasaur and Ekans were emulating them, sharing their body heat. Charmeleon had declined sleeping close, and instead snored peacefully a little ways away, his tail flame expanding and shrinking with each breath, while Exeggcute had opted to remain in its Pokéball. Aside from the cold, the ground was also rough and uncomfortable, and stones could be felt all the way through the bag. All in all, it was not the perfect good night's sleep. Still, Sammy eventually nodded off.

He awoke with a shock hours later, hearing a screech, and saw a truly massive Golbat swoop down over the campsite, with no fear of the sleeping Charmeleon's fire. It raked its claws over the sleeping bags, grabbed Bulbasaur from Agatha's side, and flew off, beating its wings lazily as it flew away. By this point, everyone was awake, and it only took a few seconds of shock and incomprehension for them to begin the chase. Agatha ran fast and desperately, Ekans coiled around her neck spitting Poison Stings futilely ahead at the escaping Golbat. Sammy and his Pokémon were not so far behind their companions, keeping up as best they could. In the end, it was Bulbasaur itself that finally ended the chase, extending its vines out and wrapping them around the bat's left wing, causing it to lose altitude and slow down enough to be hit by one of Ekans' Poison Stings, which, by a massive fluke, ripped a gash in the fleshy membrane making up its wings, sending it spinning off towards the ground, and colliding with a crash into the rocky floor. Bulbasaur squealed in delight and rushed over to Agatha on its small, stubby legs, jumping into her arms. Sammy smiled at the reunion, and then turned to the Golbat. It had forced itself to its feet, but instead of fighting or attempting to flee, it bowed its head and didn't move. Agatha froze, while hugging Bulbasaur.

"I'm not going to catch you, you freak! You dragged off Bulbasaur, with no intention of coming back! I don't care how strong you are!" she yelled, clutching Bulbasaur tightly. Golbat hissed, and flew towards Agatha in an ungainly manner. Charmeleon stepped up to fight and was about to launch a Flamethrower, when it was knocked aside by a Steel Wing, which hit the Flame Pokémon in the jaw, sending it toppling over. Growlithe attempted a Bite, but missed due to the Bat Pokémon's superior speed. In a desperate, last ditch attempt to protect their trainer, Bulbasaur and Ekans launched Poison Stings and Vine Whips at Golbat, but the Stings all bounced off the Bat Pokémon, doing minimal damage, and the Vine Whips were _cut in half_ by the bat's Steel Wing. Agatha screamed as Golbat continued its flight towards her and knocked her to the ground, blowing its rancid breath in her face. She struggled in vain against the enormous bat, which ripped at her belt. Sammy gasped in worry, and began drawing Exeggcute's ball from his belt, but it was unnecessary, as Golbat tore a Pokéball from Agatha's belt, tapped it against its head, and was sucked inside in a flash of red. Agatha lay on the ground, panting for breath, as Sammy ran over to her.

"Oh Mew! Are you OK? Are you hurt? Are-" Sammy babbled almost incoherently, but Agatha cut him off. "I'm fine, just a little shaken up." She looked down at the Pokéball on the ground. "I really should smash this ball into pieces, right here and now…" She growled, but Sammy interjected.

"Are you sure? It was a wild Pokémon, after all. Who says Bulbasaur wasn't the only thing that it could eat to keep alive? It's really strong, as well. If you could work with it, you would be great together!"

Agatha shook her head. "I'm not forgiving it for taking Bulbasaur." She stubbornly said, but slipped Golbat's ball onto her belt just the same. She turned back to Sammy. "Come on, I want to be out of this cave," She said, and walked purposefully away. Sammy followed her.

"Finally, fresh air!" Exclaimed Agatha, walking out into the bright sunlight outside Mt Moon. Sammy exited a moment later, shielding his eyes with his hand.

"Much better than that bloody cave!" he agreed, looking over at the city, just 100 meters away. He set off at a brisk pace, Growlithe running far ahead of him, barking at all the wild Pokémon, Charmeleon looking around, unimpressed yet keeping a steady pace, and Exeggcute rolling along after them in dead last.

Cerulean City was very different from the tenseness of Viridian, or the rush of Pewter. It had a light, relaxed atmosphere, with many cafés, small shops, and housing dotted around. All around, it was a lot more peaceful and friendly than anywhere the group had visited before. A bluff stood behind the city, with a huge, crumbling lighthouse standing atop it, slowly falling into disrepair. Agatha nudged Sammy. "Hey, after we've rested up, you want to go up there?"

She pointed to the lighthouse, and Sammy shrugged. "Yeah, there's not much else that I would be doing. Why not go now?" He said jovially, but Agatha looked deadpan at him, and pointed at his team, who despite their repeated Potion intake, were all covered in bruises and scars. He sweatdropped. "Maybe we _should_rest first… " He conceded.

They continued to walk through the city, finally finding the apartment building that had been converted into a trainer's hostel, and walked inside. Almost immediately, a Nurse Joy bustled up to them, holding out a tray for their Pokéballs. "Just through Mount Moon?" she asked briskly "Yes, yes, I can see all the signs. Barely any Zubat bites, though, you got off lucky."

Sammy smiled at that. "My Charmeleon made enough light for the Zubats to keep away." He said. He began to reach down to ruffle Charmeleon's head, but the Flame Pokémon pushed his hand away in embarrassment.

Joy nodded, and proffered the tray again. "He looks a bit worn out. Put his Ball on the tray, along with any other Pokémon you have." She turned to Agatha. "You, too." The teens handed over the balls, and Nurse Joy took them away. "Rooms are 200 Poke apiece for visiting trainers. I suppose you two will be wanting some, then?" Agatha nodded, and handed over a handful of coins, as did Sammy. The Nurse stowed them away behind the counter, and handed them 2 keys. "Rooms 60 and 62." Sammy thanked her, and headed up the stairs.

Sammy woke after the first restful sleep that he had had for a while to a hammering at his door. The bed felt heavenly compared to the rocky ground in Mount Moon. He stretched out under the covers for a while, not wanting to move, but eventually forced himself up and out of bed. After changing, he slung his pack across his shoulder and left his room to find Agatha waiting for him.

"Took you long enough! I've been waiting for hours," she said, conveniently forgetting the oddness of simply standing outside someone's room for hours on end, waiting for them to get up. Sammy noticed though, and blushed slightly. "It's mid-day already!" she continued. Sammy was shocked at that, he thought it had been a short sleep. "So we'd better get a move on!" Agatha shouted, dragging Sammy along by the hand, out the door.

_Why do I even like her…_ Thought Sammy._I mean I DO NOT like her! DEFINITELY NOT! We're JUST FRIENDS! JUST FRIENDS!_He ranted inside his head, as he was pulled along. He was wrong, of course.

The lighthouse was further away than either of them had expected. The path wound past a bridge over a lake, past a bricked-up old cave, and over rough terrain and rocks. However, after around a half hour of walking, they saw the lighthouse up close. It was painted white and blue, but the paint was peeling and in many places gone. The walls were cracked and covered with weeds. For all purposes, it looked to be abandoned, other than the sign put up outside, which read "FIND THE MYSTERIOUS POKÉMON. REWARD OF 200000 POKÉ! ASK INSIDE!"

Agatha gripped Sammy's arm. "Two hundred thousand Poke! That could set us up for years!" she gasped, and Sammy nodded.

"We'd better check it out" he agreed. They walked in through the door, which creaked as it opened, revealing a dark interior.

There were windows going all the way up the thin stairway that spiraled up the high walls of the lighthouse, sending streaks of light across the shaft, throwing portions of the area into sharp relief. Sammy whistled, impressed.

"This is one big tower…" he muttered. Agatha just nodded, as they headed up the creaky stairwell towards the top of the lighthouse. In many places, the stairs had broken into pieces, and the ones remaining barely held the two teens' weight, forcing them to recall all of their Pokémon to get up. After what seemed like an hour of climbing, but was probably much less, they reached the top, and saw the breathtaking view over Cerulean Cape. The lighthouse stood on a sheer cliff, and so had a beautiful view over the horizon, seeing the small atolls and Water Pokémon playing in the depths. After taking in the view for a moment, they realized they were not alone. A man, looking to be in his mid-40s, was staring out into the distance with binoculars. His hair was prematurely greying, and there was a small baby cradled in his arms. At a nod from Agatha, Sammy walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. He didn't respond, so Sammy tapped harder. Still no response. This was annoying Sammy, and so he shook the man bodily, which finally snapped him out of his reverie. He gave off a yelp, and staggered back.

"Who are you?! What do you want?!" He gabbled, holding his hands out as though to shield himself. Sammy raised his arms in a gesture of peace.

"Calm down, calm down," he said in calming tones. "We're just here for the ad outside."

This perked the man up. "Someone came! Oh yes, someone came! Someone believed me!"

He was all but dancing around with joy. Sammy and Agatha shared a glance. They weren't entirely sure anymore that their host was sane. Agatha cleared her throat nervously. "Um, the mysterious Pokémon, sir?" she said respectfully. The man looked at her with wild eyes.

"Well, I suppose that I should start back at the beginning…" he said, and Sammy glanced at Agatha.

"No, no, you don't have to do that-" Sammy began, but the man continued rambling.

"I was 41 at the time, and I and my wife, Moira, were holidaying in Cerulean City. We thought it would be nice to have a picnic up there on the cape. When we did that, we saw the breathtaking view, and lay staring for hours. However, Moira dozed off at around 11, and I didn't think to wake her, so I sat staring for a while longer. And that's when I saw it! It was massive, bigger than the lighthouse! Its eyes shone like torches in the dark…" he said, with misty eyes. He broke out of his reverie. "So naturally, I tried to wake Moira up to see it, what would you have done? I did nothing wrong! Nothing! But she wouldn't wake. When I finally got her up, I pointed out into the mist, where the Pokémon had gone. SHE thought I was dreaming, but I wasn't! It was real!" he continued, working himself into a manic frenzy. "The next few years, I continued searching for evidence of the creature. Apparently, many had tried to find it based on the myths, but none had succeeded. Moira didn't believe. She left, just after having my baby boy, Bill." He looked down at the baby in his hand, smiling fondly. "So when she took the house, I moved back here. I set up a place where I could live, and capture the giant Pokémon, to get proof! But I'm no trainer, so I set out my ad. Everyone else left, thinking I was crazy, once they heard my story. But you don't think I'm mad! DO YOU?!" He asked, spittle flying from his mouth.

"Can Aggie and me have a moment to talk about it?" asked Sammy, and the man nodded, so the teens walked out of his earshot.

"What do we do? He's nuts-who says there's actually anything out there?" whispered Sammy.

"Lighten up, Sammy! The worst that can happen is that we have a boring night at the cape, and we've got nothing better to do tonight!" she said with a laugh.

"But… oh, whatever." Sammy said, as he was pulled back towards the man, who perked up at the sight.

"So you _are_going to help! Are you?" he asked, and Sammy nodded tentatively.

Agatha stepped forward. "How are we going to find it?" she asked, and the man laughed.

"Oh, how fortunate for you, how fortunate for you!" He danced around. "This is almost the anniversary of the first time I saw it, and one of the most common times for sightings! Go out to the cape tonight, and if you're lucky, you will see it-and if you catch it, you'll be rewarded!" He said with a manic smile.

Sammy looked to Agatha, who gave a near imperceptible nod.

"Right, then. It's set. We'll, um, see you when we've caught it?" he said, and the man nodded.

"Don't worry! I've got all the time in the world!" he called after the teens, as they departed rather hurriedly from the lighthouse.

That night, Sammy was beginning to regret his choice of coming out to the cape. It was cold, and the winds beat against the headland, buffeting the two teens in the process. Agatha was looking through binoculars out to sea, but she had no luck. Sammy yawned and lay down on his sleeping bag.

"Give it up, Aggie, you're not going to find any giant Pokémon. The old man was just nuts, is all." He pleaded. "C'mon, if we leave now, we might even be able to get a few hours' sleep before morning!"

Agatha shook her head. "I'm going to see this through, no matter how long I have to stay here!" she said stubbornly, and Sammy groaned.

"Whatever, Aggie, I'm going to go to sleep," he said, and clambered inside his bag. Agatha resolutely sat on the cliff, still staring through her binoculars.

It seemed as though it had only been seconds after Sammy fell asleep that he woke to Agatha shaking his shoulders violently.

"Sammy, wake up! It's here!" she shouted at him as he scrambled to his feet, and saw it. It was enormous. It had the shape of a Dragonite, but blown up to enormous proportions. Its eyes shone as bright as massive torches, illuminating the sky. Sammy felt the Pokéball in his hand drop to the floor, but made no effort to pick it up. He knew that attempting to catch the Dragonite would be complete idiocy, and most likely get Agatha and himself killed. The massive beast turned, its eyes focusing on Sammy for a moment, and then walked away to the east.

Agatha and Sammy chased it, past the recently abandoned Power Plant, and out past the cape. It had sunk underwater as the sea grew deeper, but was still visible due to its eyes shining like lamps under the sea. Agatha in the lead, they ran across the cape towards a cliff. Agatha was so engrossed in the chase that she didn't notice that the ground below her was non-existent until it was too late.

"Agatha!" Sammy screamed as her body fell through the air to the water. Sammy didn't stop to think, and instead jumped down after his companion, desperate to save her. He fell in a steep dive, racing towards the sea, squeezing his eyes shut for impact-

_Pain. All that existed was the pain and the darkness. He vaguely felt himself sinking, but paid it no heed. He was slipping, slipping and falling through his memories back to the beginning._

_Catching Charmeleon, Exeggcute and Growlithe._

_Battling LegEnd with Agatha and Growlithe beside him._

_Sneaking out, to begin his journey._

_Meeting Agatha for the first time._

_His memories flashed before his eyes in a haze of bright colors. He found his thoughts growing fuzzy, and he leaned back to embrace the darkness which brought with it-_

A powerful force slamming into his back forced Sammy out of his trance, sending him flying out of the water. He opened his eyes, feeling the g-force pull his lips back. Below him was the Dragonite, tail swishing through the water, which must have been what forced him out. As Sammy fell down towards it, he saw a sodden figure caught by its backpack on its head-horn, which protruded from the water, along with top of the head. It was Agatha.

He aimed himself into a steep dive, which would make his fall a lot less painful than before. He broke the water, sinking for a small distance, then rose again from the sea to grab on to the great beast's back, which rose from the water in humps, like a serpent. Sammy clawed his way across the back, occasionally needing to swim short distances towards the next hump, but eventually reached his goal, the antennae. With one great jump, he managed to get his arms around its girth trailing in the water, and then began shimmying along it towards the horn.

When he reached it, he immediately ran towards Agatha, and felt her pulse. It was soft, but it was there. He breathed a sigh of relief, and shook her.

"Aggie, Aggie! Aggie, wake up!" he cried desperately. He kept shaking her until she coughed up water, spasming. He was relieved, until he felt the floor sinking. He gasped, realizing the Dragonite was diving again. He ran through his options in his head: 1. He could stay here, in the middle of the ocean surrounded by Gyarados, with a comatose girl. 2. He could go with the Dragonite, reasoning that it would be going to a cave or other area with air where he could help Aggie. 3… He had no other option. His decision was made for him, as the Dragonite sunk, with Agatha still on its horn. Desperately, Sammy grabbed hold of one of the antennae, and held his breath as they dove into the depths.

His ears were popping from the intense pressure from the sea as they kept going deeper and deeper, but he still held on. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut against the torrent of water that was going past him. He was running out of air, drowning (for the second time today, too!), and was beginning to pass out, when he was thrown, gasping like a Magikarp out of water, onto a rough cave wall. Beside him, Agatha fell, slumping off the Dragonite's horn. He spent a few seconds catching his breath from his big swim, and opened his eyes to see an amazing sight.

They were in a massive cavern, lit naturally by glowing fungus. Large blue eggs lay in clutches around the cavern, and the Dragonite was bending over to check on a clutch over to Sammy's left. However, he didn't focus on the amazing view, as he was too focused on Agatha. She was breathing, but barely. Sammy shook her, desperately wanting-_needing_ her to wake up. She spluttered, spasming, and coughed up water. Her eyes opened, and she looked directly up at Sammy. She managed a weak smile at the sight of him.

"Next time… I probably shouldn't jump off a cliff," she said, and Sammy, so relieved to have her back, laughed out loud.

"Probably a good plan,"hHe said with a smile. They sat, staring at each other for a while, until Sammy blushed and looked away.

"C-come on. We'd better scout this place out." He said, willing his blush to die down. Agatha nodded, and they walked through the cavern. It was bigger than they had expected. The fungus lit the cavern well, and it gleamed over the blue eggs.

"These must be the Dragonite's!" Agatha whispered excitedly. "It must come back here every year to check up on the eggs… or watch some hatch!" She tugged on Sammy's arm. "We have to go back if they're hatching!" she said as she ran off back the way they had come. Sammy gave chase.

"Remember that you fell off a cliff last time we did this!" he yelled.

As it turned out, Agatha's impatience was rewarded, as when they rounded the corner to where they had last seen the Dragonite, they saw it benevolently watching a clutch, in which the eggs were forming cracks. A blue snout pushed itself out of its egg, and was soon followed by the rest of the Dratini inside. The Dragonite picked it up tenderly, and the serpent wrapped itself around its mother's arm. The other eggs began to hatch, the babies squealing, and crawling over their parent. After a few minutes, there was only one egg left that hadn't hatched, and the Dragonite noticed. It huffed in worry, and nosed it over into another clutch. It then surveyed the room, looking for any Dratinis that may have wandered off. Not finding any, the great beast let out a deep call, and all of the young dragons on the floor wriggled their way across the ground and dived into the water, disappearing. Dragonite pushed itself off the edge and out of the cave into the deep. Sammy and Agatha were so entranced by the sight that they didn't realize that they had no way out until a few seconds later.

Sammy growled, and banged his head against the wall.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid! We should have grabbed hold of it while it was holding its children! We should have-" he ranted, until Agatha placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's OK, Sammy." She said calmingly. "There's got to be an opening to the surface, otherwise there would be no air." Sammy looked over at her, wide eyed.

"You're a genius, Aggie!" he exclaimed. He was about to run off into the cavern, when he heard a small squealing sound. He stiffened, and looked around to see the last of the eggs form cracks in its shell. Sammy immediately rushed over and saw the snout of a Dratini protrude. With one final push, the serpentine creature pushed itself out of its eggshell, and looked straight up at Sammy with wide eyes. Sammy was breathless. He was still staring when the Dratini jumped onto him, wrapping itself around his arms as it nuzzled him. Agatha giggled at her friend on the ground as the small dragon squeezed a little too tight, restricting his breathing.

"She must have imprinted on you, Sammy," said Agatha laughingly . "She thinks you're her daddy!"

Sammy's face burned as he attempted to pull himself up, but Dratini pulled him back down. Agatha collapsed to the ground in laughter, and Sammy pulled out a Pokéball. Dratini squealed in fear, and backed off him. Sammy immediately felt bad, and stood up. He put the Pokéball back into his belt and walked over to Dratini. He bent over reassuringly.

"Hey, hey…" said, opening his arms coaxingly. "I didn't want to hurt you, I just needed to stand up. You don't have to go inside if you don't want to." He stood up again. "Come on, let's go. Just don't crush me again."

Dratini squealed in delight and jumped Sammy again, forcing him back on the ground.

"I don't think she was listening…" said Agatha with a smile. Sammy's eye twitched.

After a number of minutes, they got Sammy back on his feet, and Dratini (somewhat reluctantly) trailed behind him and Agatha. A little while through there march through the caves, Sammy stiffened. Agatha turned to him.

"What?" she asked. Sammy grinned. "Do you feel that? It's a breeze. Where there's a breeze, there's an opening to the surface!" He began pounding down the cavern, ducking past the egg clutches. Dratini squealed and dove into a channel of water going down the side of the room, swimming through the cavern at an incredible clip. Agatha ran after them, but with a late start settled into dead last.

After a short chase, Sammy stopped and looked at the ceiling. There, a small hole, around 10 centimeters in diameter, opened into the sky. However, the ceiling was high, and he and Agatha would be unable to reach it, even if they could fit through. As he pondered this conundrum, Dratini popped out of the water beside him. Sammy patted her head absentmindedly, and then an idea came to him. He called Exeggcute out of its ball, and the small Egg Pokémon looked around in confusion.

"We'll explain later, just use Confusion on the opening! Try to pull down some of the ceiling around it to make a way up!" Sammy commanded. Exeggcute nodded (As far as he could tell), and its eyes glowed bright blue, as did the rocks around the opening. With a wrench of psychokinetic force, the stone ceiling around the opening crumbled and fell, and through Exeggcute's guidance, landed in a pile strong enough to support their weight.

"That's great, Exeggcute!" Sammy praised. "Do you want to stay out here, or go back into the ball?"

Exeggcute shook one of its heads wildly. "Exe egg cute Exegg!" it said imploringly. Sammy smiled.

"Okay, but we'll call the whole team out when we're up there." He said. Exeggcute's central head grinned.

After some effort, the whole group managed to get into the open air, but were soon faced with another problem.

"Where… where are we?" asked Agatha, squinting into the gloom outside the bubble of light created by the recently released Charmeleon's tail flame. Sammy frowned. "I don't actually know…" he said worriedly. Dratini shivered in the cold, and wrapped herself around Sammy's legs. Agatha continued looking out until she threw her hands up in frustration.

"Agh! This is so annoying! We won't be able to see anything in this light! We'll have to stay the night here!" she ranted, punching a tree. She regretted it a moment later. 'It works better in the movies…" she said, rubbing her aching knuckles.

However, Sammy had an idea. "Agatha-Golbat's a cave Pokémon. He would have excellent night vision and echolocation. He could help us find our way back to Cerulean…" Said Sammy, but Agatha gritted her teeth.

"I don't know, Sammy… what if Golbat attacks us again? What if he takes Bulbasaur, Ekans, or one of your Pokémon away? What if-" Sammy cut her off.

"He's our only chance of getting out of here before the morning. If you call him out, we can tell the old man about the cave, and still be able to get some sleep in."

Agatha bit her lip. Wordlessly and angrily, she pulled Golbat's ball from her belt, and released it in a flash of red light. The blue bat flapped its wings and darted into the air, then swooped over the teens' heads, causing them to instinctively duck. Golbat then made a hairpin turn, and beat its wings lazily in the air, maintaining its position in front of Agatha. She straightened. "Golbat! Lead us to Cerulean City!" she commanded, and Golbat hissed and flew ahead of them at a lazy pace, leaving the teens and their Pokémon following it.

By the time they reached the city, the sun was peeking over the horizon, and the teens could see again, so Golbat was recalled. They made the trek over to the lighthouse in short time, even though they were all extraordinarily weary. As they climbed up the stairs (Having recalled all of their Pokémon before attempting the climb (Except Dratini) due to the dubious reliability of the steps), they heard the crazy man's voice emanating from the light room above.

"Yes, yes, I have sent two people to find the creature… You're offering me how much? And for any young, too? That is a _lot _of Poké… and all I have to do is point you to it? How can I refuse?!"

Sammy and Agatha exchanged looks. The voice continued

"Yes, of course it would have to be shackled, and chained so it wouldn't hurt any visitors… yes, I can see it now, the mighty giant, biggest creature on earth, now chained at our feet! We would make a fortune!"

Agatha gasped. "He's planning to sell the Dragonite! He's going to chain it- that's inhumane!" Sammy nodded grimly. "We can't tell him where the eggs are-who knows what he'll do to them!" Agatha was about to say something, but then Sammy clamped his hand over her mouth. The voice had stopped. The teens waited with baited breath as the floor above them creaked, and they heard footsteps. A moment later, they saw the man's head poking down the stairwell.

"Hello! It's you! Do you have good news? Where's the beast?" he said very quickly and excitedly. Sammy's mouth settled into a hard line.

"Sir, what are you going to do with it?" he asked accusingly. The man's brow furrowed.

"Why do you care so much?" he retorted.

Agatha stepped up to him. "Because we don't want to be part of any Pokémon cruelty, that's why!"

By then, the man had descended from the room onto the stairs themselves.

"Now, now, girl. We're not going to _hurt _it, we've just got to keep it chained to keep us safe from it" he said imploringly. "And we _may _have to show it who is the boss the hard way now and then, but it's dangerous! Now, be a dear, and tell me where I can find it."

Sammy looked at him, repulsed, comforting the frightened Dratini. "You're disgusting! I'll never tell!" he spat. However, Dratini's movement drew attention to her, and the man focused his bloodshot eyes on the serpent greedily.

"Where did you get that? Is that one of its young? Give it to me, it will fetch a high price!" he said. Sammy clutched Dratini tightly.

"No! I'm not giving her away! She's not going with you!" said Sammy.

"You don't have a choice, boy." Said the man, as he lunged towards the dragon in Sammy's arms. Dratini squealed in fright and instinctively released a powerful Dragon Rage into the man, sending him flying backwards to hit his head on a wall.

Agatha walked over to him in disgust. "What the hell is wrong with you! You can't just take Pokémon away from people, it's just wrong!" she said angrily.

He looked up at her, bloodshot eyes staring into Agatha's own. "This isn't over…" he said, wheezing. "I will find the giant, and if I don't, Bill will carry on in my footsteps! This isn't over, I say!" he cackled.

Agatha shook her head. "Come on, Sammy. We're done here," she said, and Sammy nodded.

"Let's go back to our rooms and see if we can get some sleep." He said, and he followed Agatha down the stairs, and out of the lighthouse, a relieved Dratini wrapping herself around his body.

The madman lay on the steps for several moments, until he heard a wailing from upstairs. "Ugh…I'm coming…I'm coming, Bill…" He groaned, staggering to his feet and climbing back into the light room. He picked up his baby son, whom he'd left lying on a desk, and cradled him until his crying stopped. "Shh…shh…don't cry…Daddy's here…"

Through weary, bloodshot eyes, he looked at his desk, covered with frenzied scribbles of giant monsters, hand-drawn maps, charts of sea currents…and a framed picture of a younger man and woman, smiling happily, hand in hand. The man stared at the picture, eyes watering up. "My love…I've failed again."

And then, with nobody but his baby son to see him, he wept, a broken and ruined man.

**Well, that took a while. Too long. I blame the procrastination fairies and my obsession with conducting Nuzlocke runs.**

**Next time- Interrogation**

_**-LordMagikarp**_


	9. Interrogation

**Interrogation**

"Sir!" shouted a LegEnd grunt running up to Finis, the latter of whom was staring out of a small window from LegEnd's base in an undisclosed location. Finis turned around, turning his piercing amber eyes on the lower-ranking operative, who cringed.

"Yes…" growled Finis, unhappy at being interrupted from his reverie. "I assume there is a reason for this interruption…" He reached for Nidoking's ball, and the grunt cringed in fear.

"I- I just came to tell you that Lucius requests your presence, sir.!" he squeaked. Finis smirked slightly.

"You are weak." He said with controlled power. He fingered the clasp of Nidoking's ball. The grunt's Adam's apple bobbed in his neck.

"Y… you're going to kill me, sir? Please, I don't want to die! Fire me, anything! Just don't kill me!" he begged in fear, but Finis had no mercy. He picked up Nidoking's ball, and released the great purple beast.

"Please! I'm begging you! Don't do-"

"Nidoking, Hyper Beam." Finis said, cutting off the desperate grunt's cries, as the saurian Pokémon formed a beam of orange energy and fired it at the offender. It was quick, and there was hardly any blood, due to the intense heat vaporizing the body. The only evidence that the grunt had ever existed was a huge scorch mark on the wall and a scattering of ashes on the floor. Smiling slightly, Finis walked delicately past the pile of human remains, towards Lucius' laboratory.

"You wished to see me, Lucius?" Finis said coldly, entering the laboratory.

The red-haired scientist looked up from his machine and smiled. "Yes, lord Finis. I have detected a ripple in the time stream, in a forest outside Cerulean City. We believe this means that Celebi will make an appearance there. I advise that we send a freelance hunter out to capture it. If we send one of our own, there is a chance they will divulge our secrets."

Finis smiled. "Good observation, Lucius. Yes, I will finance this, and if luck is with us, Celebi will be ours within a few days." He said. "Get to work hiring and equipping the hunter."

"Yes, lord Finis!" Lucius saluted.

Sammy woke early to a great weight on his chest. He opened his eyes and saw the white snout of Dratini pressed up against his face and stretched across his chest. He groaned and pushed himself up, forcing the dragon to move to the side, squealing unhappily. Sammy rubbed his eyes and got out of bed. After changing, he walked out the door. He checked Agatha's room, but she didn't answer. Frowning, he walked downstairs to speak to Joy, who told him that she had left a number of hours ago. He thanked the nurse and walked out of the building, through the city.

South of Cerulean was a beautiful forest with a bubbling stream, where he let out all of his Pokémon. Charmeleon huffed, unimpressed, and stamped along behind Sammy, watching for potential danger. Growlithe yipped and ran ahead, scaring the native forest Pokémon. Exeggcute sat on Sammy's pack, one egg from the clutch poking out. Dratini squealed in happiness and pushed into the water, swimming alongside the group. Sammy smiled. All was well. They continued in companionable silence until Charmeleon let out a warning call. All of the group whipped around and saw the scar-faced man from Viridian standing a little away from them. Upon realizing that he had been noticed, the man grinned and pulled out a Pokéball.

"Sorry, chumps! Don't feel like playing today!" he said gruffly, releasing his Rhyhorn, which bellowed. "Earthquake!" he commanded, and Rhyhorn snorted and pounded the ground with its legs, causing a fissure to open up in the ground, revealing a cave opening. Cackling, Scarface jumped down, and was quickly followed by Rhyhorn. Snarling, Sammy jumped down too, and was quickly followed by Growlithe, Dratini, and Charmeleon (Exeggcute being in his backpack).

Charmeleon's natural flame illuminated the tunnel, which was quite low-roofed and wide. Small tremors wracked it, and the occasional heads of Digletts and Dugtrio popped out of the earth and walls.

Sammy let out a low breath. "This must be Diglett's Cave!" he exclaimed. "Digletts dug it ages ago, and some people say it runs all the way from Vermillion to Pewter!"

He was snapped out of his reverie by the hard, loud sound of Scarface racing down the tunnel ahead of them. Sammy immediately gave chase, and as soon as they rounded the next corner, he saw the villain, who was up against a dead end.

Scarface grinned again. "Congratulations, kid, you found me! It's payback time for what you did to Rhyhorn and the others last time!" Rhyhorn bellowed in agreement.

Exeggcute jumped in front of Sammy. "Cute Exe cute Exegg!" the Pokémon shouted, and Sammy raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Alright, Exeggcute, you can fight Rhyhorn. You have a type advantage, anyways," He said, and Exeggcute's central egg smirked.

"Rhyhorn, Take Down!" Scarface roared, and his Pokémon rushed forward powerfully, shaking the ground.

"Exeggcute, use your Psychic to get on top of it!" Sammy yelled. Exeggcute propelled himself off the ground with a push of psionic energy, flipping through the air before landing on Rhyhorn's back.

"Now use Leech Seed!" the teen continued, bringing his raised fist down. Exeggcute glowed green and a seed of energy left his body, embedding itself deep inside the rhino, which roared as it glowed green and started losing its energy

"Rhyhorn, use Thrash! Get it off you!" Scarface cried, and the Rock type complied, contorting its body into odd positions and thrashing about, attempting to force the Egg Pokémon off it. It succeeded, and Exeggcute was sent flying, smashing into the cave wall. Scarface grinned. "Stomp on it!" he yelled, and the rhino seemed to grin itself, raising its foot to crush the smaller Pokémon.

Sammy gasped, and squeezed his eyes shut, but needn't have bothered, because as soon as the leg began to descend, a pink aura surrounded it, stopping its fall. Rhyhorn grunted in confusion, but as much as it struggled, it couldn't move its foot at all. Exeggcute smirked and powered up a Barrage. Rhyhorn's eyes widened as the orb of energy grew larger and larger before it was finally released, hitting the rocky Pokémon under the chin, sending it backwards.

It quickly regained its feet and began charging towards Exeggcute, before Scarface had an idea. "Rhyhorn, use Fire Blast!" he shouted, and the flaming Kanji for Big appeared over the rhino's head and flew towards Exeggcute.

Not expecting this, Exeggcute was hit full on by the blast, sending him flying, charred and screaming, towards the cave wall. Sammy gasped. "I didn't know that Rhyhorn could learn that! They're Rock types!" he said, aghast at the state Exeggcute was in.

Scarface smiled darkly. "You should know by now that some Pokémon can learn moves that don't seem to make sense for them to learn. Pah! You're even more of a rookie than you look!" he said nastily.

Sammy gritted his teeth, and ran over to where Exeggcute lay. "Exeggcute, you can't keep going on like this. You have to switch out," Sammy said worriedly. Exeggcute growled angrily, and tried to force his eggs back to their normal formation, but couldn't. Grudgingly, he let Sammy pick him up and take him to the side of the field. Snarling, Charmeleon stomped up to take his place.

Scarface laughed. "Rock VS Fire again?" he called to Sammy.

"If I remember correctly, I won the last time," Sammy said coolly.

Scarface's face flushed. "Rookie luck! Rhyhorn, Fury Attack!" he ordered. Rhyhorn's horn glowed and jabbed out at Charmeleon faster than should have been possible for such a slow Pokémon. Charmeleon yelped and its claws lengthened, gaining a metallic sheen as he used Metal Claw. He then lunged forward at the Spikes Pokémon, going claw against horn, each body part crashing into another at exactly the same time, until Charmeleon feinted, acting like he was about to turn to the side, but didn't, leaving an opening in Rhyhorn's exposed side. He lunged forward, raking deep furrows in the rocky flesh with his Metal Claws. Rhyhorn bellowed in pain, and used Rock Tomb on its reptilian opponent.

Over on the sidelines, Sammy and Scarface called instructions to their fighters, who weren't listening, too deep in the thrill of battle. Behind Sammy lay Exeggcute, steadily regaining his own health by continuing to sap Rhyhorn's, who still had a seed inside of him.

A heap of enormous boulders rose from the ground and flew towards Charmeleon, who snarled, and in a flurry of activity, smashed the first with a Rock Smash, the second with a Metal Claw, jumped on top of the third, and ran and jumped across the remaining ones until he reached his opponent. Rhyhorn's eyes widened and Charmeleon smirked, bringing his claws down towards Rhyhorn's head, where they dug deep furrows in his armored plates. The Spikes Pokémon bellowed in pain, before succumbing to unconsciousness.

Scarface gritted his teeth, and recalled Rhyhorn. He stowed the Rock-type in his belt and pulled out another Pokéball. "You may have beaten Rhyhorn, but it's not over yet! Go, Kadabra!" he said, releasing his Pokémon from its ball in a flash of red. It was a vaguely humanoid fox-like creature, with a flowing moustache, an insectoid abdomen, and a huge, thick tail. Its upper body was brown, and it had a red star on its head. In its clawed hands, it held a spoon.

Charmeleon growled and shot a Flamethrower towards it. The Psychic smiled, and dissipated the stream of flames with a gesture of its spoon. Enraged, Charmeleon shot forward, Metal Claws gleaming. Kadabra calmly brought up his spoon, which clashed against Charmeleon's claws, causing an explosion of telekinetic force, sending the Flame Pokémon flying back into the cave wall, sending tremors through it.

Charmeleon groaned, stood up and rubbed his head. He growled and chased towards the Psychic, but this time played it smart, shooting multiple Flamethrowers towards Kadabra, betting that they couldn't all be stopped, which was true. As Kadabra attempted to stop the flames, one stream got through, catching the Psychic in the chest. As he staggered, he was hit by Charmeleon's Metal Claw, knocking him back.

The reptilian stood over the battered Psychic, drawing back a claw. Kadabra's eyes widened, and Charmeleon grinned as-

He was blown backwards by a compressed ball of Psychic force, a Future Sight attack. Sammy gasped as his Pokémon flew through the air and hit his head on a stalagmite, knocking him out. Sammy ran to his defeated Pokémon,and saw that he was too badly injured to continue fighting. His eyes burned as he returned him to his belt.

"Growlithe, you-" Sammy began, but was cut off by Exeggcute, now healed back to near-optimal condition, shouting for attention.

"Exegg, cute Exegg Exeggcute!" he cried.

Sammy looked over at him, surprised at his recovery, until he remembered the Leech Seed planted on Rhyhorn. "You want to battle again? You're sure?" Sammy asked, and Exeggcute smiled and rolled out onto the battlefield.

Growlithe whined, rather put out, and Sammy patted his head. "Lighten up buddy; you can have the next fight," Sammy said. Mollified, Growlithe walked back to his position.

Exeggcute frowned at Kadabra, who smirked arrogantly, sending a Psybeam towards Exeggcute, who dissipated it with a thought. The Egg Pokémon then sent a Magical Leaf in response, the rainbow leaves flying towards the enemy Psychic, who quickly raised a Protect barrier. Unperturbed, Exeggcute fired a volley of Barrage orbs towards Kadabra, the greenish-black orbs exploding against the shield, weakening it until the final one shattered it. He then fired an Egg Bomb, creating another egg, creepily similar to the one making him up, and throwing it at Kadabra, hitting him in the face, sending the foxlike psychic back.

Growling, Kadabra rose, using Recover to heal himself. He raised his spoon, gathering power, and ripped earth and stones from the walls around him before sending them flying at his foe. Exeggcute gasped and gathered his own power, stopping the projectiles in midair. The two Psychic types stared in each other's eyes (Well, in Kadabra's case, staring into its opponent's central eyes) in a battle of wills, the air humming as they clashed psychically, minds battling for control.

Eventually, Kadabra's power prevailed, breaking Exeggcute's attempts to shield himself, sending huge boulders flying through the air, along with a heap of smaller stones, including one, smaller than the others and green with a leaf pattern, towards Exeggcute. The small Pokémon was battered by the flurry of boulders, unable to form a counterattack while the projectiles kept coming, until the green stone hit him in one of his side eggs, causing them all to gasp and glow white. Sammy's eyes widened, and he looked from Exeggcute, whose form was glowing and lengthening, to the stone on the ground.

_A Leaf Stone? Exeggcute is evolving! He thought, amazed._

And so he was. When the light faded after reaching a blinding hue, a different Pokémon was standing where Exeggcute once was. It was bipedal, but had no arms. It was roughly a whopping two meters tall, and towered over all. It was brown, had a band pattern on it, and was reminiscent of a tree. It, like Exeggcute, had multiple heads, but there were only three to Exeggcute's six eggs. It had a tuft of green grass hanging over its head, giving the impression of a palm tree.

"Exeggutor!" his multiple heads cried in a three-part harmony. Sammy smiled.

"Congratulations Exeggcute- I mean, Exeggutor! I'm so proud of you! Now, let's kick this Kadabra's ass!" He cheered happily.

Exeggutor's eyes narrowed, and he stomped, turning towards the Psi Pokémon, who gulped, intimidated by the now-larger Pokémon. Exeggutor smirked, collected the stones that had been fired at him beforehand, and hurled them at Kadabra, who created a shield of telekinetic energy, much as Exeggcute had done before. But thanks to Exeggutor's new power boost, he was completely outmatched, and the boulders hit him in the chest one after another, knocking him down to the ground. Exeggutor stomped forwards, towards the downed Kadabra. The Coconut Pokémon stood over the battered Psychic, drawing back his leg for a Stomp. Kadabra's eyes widened, and Exeggutor grinned as-

He telekinetically grabbed the Future Sight energy ball coming towards him from behind, and smashed it into Kadabra's face, downing the enemy Psychic for good.

Scarface gritted his teeth. "Well, kid, ya fought well, but I don't settle all things with a Pokémon battle…Especially if I have something like this," he said, bringing out a pistol from his pocket. He pointed it towards Sammy's head.

"I'll make this nice and quick, kid…" He pulled the trigger. The bullet flew through the air, until it was stopped by a telekinetic force which crushed it, and the gun, into crumpled, useless pieces of metal. Sammy looked to his side, where Exeggutor stood towering over him, eyes glowing with power. Growlithe ran forward towards Scarface and pounced on him, teeth inches from his throat, but Scarface only laughed and laughed.

Sammy walked over to him, looking down. "Youare going to tell us exactly what we want to know," he said in as intimidating a fashion as he could, but the LegEnd operative spat in his face.

"I won't tell a child like you anything! I don't care what you do to me, my teacher did a whole lot worse in training, and besides, even if I die here once our objective is complete…I'll be back, and I'll sure as hell make you pay," He said.

"What do you mean, you'll be back?" Sammy asked. When Scarface didn't respond, he punched him. "TELL ME!"

But Scarface only laughed. "Cause I'm in a nice mood, I'll tell you where to go to meet our taskforce, the guys I was supposed to back up. Hopefully they'll kill you, like I couldn't. Goodbye." Scarface crunched down on a false tooth, releasing concentrated Arbok venom into his body, sending him into a spasming death fit. Sammy rummaged in his bag for an Antidote, desperate to counter the venom before it took him and the answers Sammy sought. Scarface's arms clutched at Sammy's leg. "They're in Viridian Forest" Scarface coughed. "Have fun dying. I hope it hurts."

He shook, one final movement, then lay still. Sammy clutched at him, checking his pulse, but he was gone.

"Why? Why would he do that?" Sammy said, distraught. "Why would he kill himself?"

Growlithe whined and Dratini wrapped around him. Charmeleon and Exeggutor, more reserved, just stood and watched. Sammy stared at the corpse before him for a long while, traumatized. Finally, he slowly rose to his feet, patting Dratini's head without looking, and began walking towards the northwest, to Viridian, and LegEnd.

**Well, that was a little darker than normal!**

**Next Time- Voice Of The Forest**

_**-LordMagikarp**_


	10. Voice of the Forest Part 1

**Voice of the Forest Part 1**

**Shout out to Krikanalo, who is my best reviewer! He rocks!**

… **But even though he's great, I would still appreciate it if anyone and everyone who reads this will review each chapter. Krikanalo is the only person who has reviewed more than once, and he has had a great boosting effect on my confidence. Getting reviews makes me feel like people really enjoy this story, and gives me an incentive to keep writing. So please review!**

**I'm sorry to be such an attention whore. Anyway, on with the show!**

**-**_**LordMagikarp**_

When Sammy emerged from Diglett's Cave, it had been a number of hours since Sammy's confrontation with Scarface, and the latter's subsequent death. Sammy was still shell-shocked from what he had seen, and wasn't sure he would ever get over it. Growlithe padded alongside his master, rubbing his leg occasionally to remind him that he was not alone. Charmeleon stood to Sammy's right, watchful and raring to get into action after his humiliating defeat at the hands of Kadabra. Behind them, Exeggutor towered over them, the Coconut Pokémon taking long strides equivalent to four or five of Sammy's. Dratini was nestled in the leafy fronds on top of his head, snout poking out playfully and wriggling.

The group entered the forest, and Sammy looked over to Exeggutor.

"Remember, Exeggutor? You used to live out here!" Sammy said wistfully as he tried to push his horrible trauma into the past, remembering the adventure. Evidently, his Pokémon did too, by the look in all six of his eyes as he surveyed the familiar surroundings. They progressed, and eventually Sammy became more serious, remembering just why they had come here. They kept their eyes peeled as they progressed into the forest, quiet as Rattatas. (Other than one incident where Dratini needed to go to the bathroom, Growlithe stepped on branches all the time, and Charmeleon nearly set the forest on fire on numerous occasions. And there was-ok, look, it wasn't actually that quiet).

_**/Biiiii!/**_

Exeggutor turned around suddenly, confused. Sammy whipped his head around, and saw what Exeggutor had seen. A section of forest seemed… odd. Like it had been cut out from another forest. The branches didn't meet up with the ones outside the roughly square area, and the sunlight seemed to be brighter. Sammy stared for a moment. Growlithe cowered against his leg. Sammy patted his head.

"If LegEnd is in this forest… they would have at least sent people in here. We have to check it out," said Sammy. He walked into the square.

Inside… it looked different. The trees were certainly as tall, but not as thickly spread, allowing a clear view of the heavens. The air was light, and had a crisp breeze. He looked back, but he could no longer see his friends. He gasped and panicked for a second before he saw Dratini's snout poke out of… thin air?

The rest of Dratini slithered through, and Sammy gasped a sigh of relief as he saw the rest of his Pokémon enter through where he had been.

_The… thing… must only be visible from one side…. A portal? But why? How?_thought Sammy wonderingly.

_**/Biiiii!/**_

Sammy jerked in surprise. He looked around, frantically searching, because something made him feel like there was a… _presence_in this forest, and he wasn't sure that it was benign. He returned his Pokémon to their balls (Even going so far as to capture Dratini, which he regretted doing because of the look on her face.)

He progressed through the forest, thoughts of LegEnd forgotten as he surveyed the scenery, though the feeling of being watched remained.

Eventually, he reached an enormous rock wall with a tunnel leading through it. Sammy walked faster, gripping his backpack tightly as he proceeded. Suddenly, he heard a woman's voice carried on the wind. "If you're going in, be careful!"

He looked up, surprised, and saw a pretty young woman with green hair running down the rock wall, darting from side to side. She was wearing white and purple flowing robes which billowed around her. As Sammy watched, she descended from the wall with a jump. She ran towards him with a smile. "Don't forget, if you hear the Voice of the Forest, don't move a muscle!" She said warmly.

Sammy's mind raced. _What's she doing out here in the middle of the woods! No-one lives in Viridian Forest! _He thought wildly, until a disturbing thought occurred to him. _Unless… I'm not in Viridian anymore…_

The woman seemed to take his lack of an answer as lack of knowledge. "Don't tell me you haven't heard about it!" She said laughingly.

"No, I haven't!" Sammy responded honestly. "What's the Voice of the Forest?" he asked. The woman looked over to the rock wall, wide eyed. Something in her eyes made Sammy feel as though she had been hoping he didn't know, so she would have an excuse to tell the story.

"Well, it's only a legend, but everyone around _here_ believes it. They say there's a sound you can hear when the spirit that protects the forest is time-travelling." Sammy gaped at the thought.

_Time travelling? That has all sorts of implications! If someone could control time itself…_ _That must be what LegEnd is after!_He thought. He set his jaw. _I can't let them have it!_

"Time travelling?" He asked, curious despite himself.

The woman nodded. "That's one of its special powers. It can go back and forth through the past and the future," She said.

"_Wow…"_exclaimed Sammy, still thinking of the possibilities.

The woman continued. "So if you hear a weird sound, stop, and don't make a noise! If the spirit catches you, it could carry you off to a different time!"

_A weird sound… Could the Voice of the Forest be what I heard? Is it what took me here?_He wondered. In a second, he recovered. "Don't worry, I'll be careful." Sammy reassured the woman. He began walking away from her, towards the tunnel. "Thanks! Bye!"

However, as soon as he had taken a few steps, the woman called out "Wait!" Sammy turned back around to face her. She rummaged around in the basket she had been carrying for a number of seconds, until finally pulling out a loaf of warm bread, complete with nuts and berries. "Take this! It's a loaf of bread I made. It's full of berries from the forest! It might come in handy if you get hungry," She said.

Sammy smiled at her, taking it. "Thanks miss! I appreciate it. Bye!" he said happily, turning away once more. He walked through the tunnel, and out the other side, to whatever it might bring.

Around half an hour later, Sammy was beginning to forget about LegEnd. He had sat down for a rest for a moment, and distracted himself with doodling on his sketchpad, making rudimentary sketches of the dancing Bellossom in the flowers in front of him.

_**/Biiiii!/**_

Sammy looked up once more, his pen accidentally slipping on the paper, making a long, dark line across his sketch. _Is this the Voice of the Forest?_He thought, confused.

"Bella, Bella!" cried the Bellosom, who looked around in fear before running away. There was a rustling in the bushes, and out came several wild Pokémon, who looked like they were fleeing for their lives. Sammy jumped up, reaching for Growlithe's Pokéball, as the seething mass of Pokémon rushed past. He was about to release his faithful canine partner before he saw an unfamiliar green Pokémon fly over the hedge after the others. It was around a foot tall, with small limbs. It had a rounded torso, and a head shaped like a plant bulb. Its eyes were blue, with large black rings around them. Fairy wings sprouted from its back, and antennae grew from its forehead.

Sammy barely had time to process this turn of events before the Pokémon flew towards his head, forcing him to dodge out of the way. It flew past him, not even looking back, the reason for which was clear when he saw a _massive_ Houndoom spring over the hedge in hot pursuit, (Ha! Get it? He's a fire type!…Yeah, that was bad. Sorry.) followed by a Scyther.

Sammy scrambled up, grabbing his backpack from the ground, before sprinting after the procession of Pokémon. By the time he caught up, the Scyther was holding the unfamiliar Pokémon down with its blades, causing the smaller Pokémon to cry out in pain as they dug into its flesh. Houndoom was staring it right in the face, hackles raised as it menaced it. The small Pokémon cried out.

_**/Biii…Biii…/**_

Sammy realized with a start that that was the same sound that he had been hearing all day. _Is this the spirit of the forest? It's in trouble! I have to help it!_

Gripped by an insane fervor, Sammy called out to the intimidating Pokémon. "Let it go! Two against one isn't fair!" He called, causing Scyther and Houndoom to turn their heads towards him and growl. With a howl much like laughter, Houndoom spewed a gout of fire towards Sammy, which he only narrowly dodged. As he shielded his eyes, those of the unfamiliar Pokémon glowed with a harsh yellow light, causing thorny roots to erupt from the ground and wrap around Scyther's blades and Houndoom's paws. The large Pokémon panicked, flailing around in distress, trying to free themselves, and in their struggle, allowed the fairy-like Pokémon to escape, flying into the air towards Sammy. However, it was exhausted, only barely able to conjure up enough strength to land in the Trainer's arms. It squeezed its eyes shut, and wailed in distress.

**/**_**Bii…../**_

Suddenly, Sammy heard the revving of an engine behind him. He looked around and saw a grown man behind him on a motorcycle. He was wearing long, tan trousers and a leather jacket over a blue top. His hair was spiky and black, and one of his eyes was missing, replaced with a black, technological looking eyepatch.

"Alright, hand over that Celebi!" He called to Sammy. Instinctively, Sammy knew he was not to be trusted.

"Celebi…" Sammy said, deducing that that this was the name of the creature held in his arms. He suddenly gripped it tighter, standing up to face him.

"Why should I hand it over? What do you want with it?!" Sammy shouted protectively.

The man smirked. "I'm a Pokémon hunter, kid. I make good money off rare Pokémon. First I catch them, then I sell them to my client!" he said, reaching into his belt and pulling out a netlike contraption of red spheres.

_He must be after it for LegEnd!_Sammy deduced. He set his jaw.

"Well, you're not going to get your hands on _this_ Pokémon!" He cried angrily.

The Pokémon Hunter gritted his teeth. "GIVE IT TO ME!" He shouted.

Sammy scrambled away. "Never!" he yelled, running away, Celebi in his arms. As he ran, Celebi struggled in his arms, and called out to the heavens.

**/**_**BIIIIIIII!/**_

Suddenly, it was like a wave passed over the world, leaving in its wake blue energy which washed over everything. Sammy collapsed to the ground under the force of it.

/_**BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!/**_Cried Celebi, mouth gaping, as the world began to spin. A vortex in the sky seemed to open up, and Celebi glowed green, blinding Sammy. An aura of white energy spread out from Celebi, encompassing Sammy in its power. He squeezed his eyes shut, and in a few moments, felt no more.

**And that's a wrap for the first of this series of multipart chapters. What happened to Sammy? Where will he end up? Did he travel through time? All these answers… you already know if you watched the movie, but read anyway.**

**P.S.: Sorry about the wait. I promise, the next part won't take this long.**

**-**_**LordMagikarp**_


	11. Voice of the Forest Part 2

**Voice of the Forest Part 2**

**… I got nothing to say. Enjoy.**

**-_LordMagikarp_**

Sammy regained consciousness after what seemed like only a few minutes, with a boy with spiky black hair standing over him, shaking him. Sammy yelped, shoved the other boy away, and stood up groggily, but still angry.

"What did you do with that Celebi?!" He shouted at the boy, who was lying sprawled on the ground. He was wearing blue jeans, a white shirt and a blue jacket over it. On his head was a red and white cap with a swoosh mark on it. Sammy didn't have time to dwell on this information, because the other boy picked himself up off the ground to grab him by the shoulders. As Sammy fought to free himself, he was bodily shaken.

"I'm trying to help ya!" cried the other boy, and one of his companions, a squinty-eyed young man, came between them and forcefully pulled them apart.

"Knock it off, you two, settle down!" he said, holding the two younger boys apart.

The boy in the cap pushed himself away from his companion, and raised his fist against Sammy. "Who are you anyway?!" He demanded, shaking his fist.

Sammy shook his head groggily, before finally taking in his surroundings. "W… where am I?" he wondered, looking around. He was in a lightly wooded area of the forest, with a treehouse directly to his left. "How did I get here?"

The other boy, fuming, yelled out," I carried you here on my back, that's how!"

As the two faced off, a young woman climbed down from the treehouse. Sammy gasped. She looked just like the woman who had given him the bread and warned him about the Voice of the Forest. Following her was an older woman, who looked a disturbing amount like her.

"What's going on?" The young woman cried, looking at Sammy in confusion. The older woman, however, looked at him with recognition kindling in her eyes.

"We found him unconscious in the forest," replied the other companion of the boy, a red-haired girl carrying a Togepi.

Suddenly, the older woman gasped and ran forward towards Sammy, enveloping him in a big hug. "I can't believe it! It's really you!" She said disbelievingly, holding him close. Dumbfounded, Sammy backed away slightly. "You've come back! Oh, thank goodness!"

The younger woman walked forward, confused. "Uh, grandma, where exactly did he come back from?"

The old woman released Sammy and turned to her granddaughter. "Diana, I've told you the story of what happened when I was a young girl. A little boy disappeared from the forest!" She said, smiling.

Sammy looked around. Everyone surrounding him was looking at him in a different light, apart from the skeptical Diana. "But this boy can't be him!" She protested, scrutinizing Sammy and her grandmother's faces to see if there was a joke she hadn't been let in on.

"Well, maybe it can't be, but it is," The old woman said firmly.

Sammy looked at her, and suddenly remembered the young woman who had warned him about the Voice of the Forest. "You're the girl who gave me the loaf of bread!" he said disbelievingly.

_But if this is her… Am I in the future? What's going on?_

A few minutes later, they were all in the old woman's treehouse. She was bustling around in a cupboard, and just when they were all about to get bored, she triumphantly pulled out a rectangular object covered in an orange blanket. She presented it to Sammy with a flourish. "I kept this here all these years in case you came back."

With trembling fingers, Sammy unfurled the blanket, revealing a very familiar shape.

It was his sketchbook.

"This is my sketchbook!" He said, rendering the previous statement completely unnecessary.

The old woman bent over forwards towards him. "You've been away on a 40 year long journey, young man!" she said, not unkindly.

_40 years? How? Did Celebi do this?_

"40 years?" said the red-haired girl holding the Togepi.

"Legend says the Voice of the Forest can catch a person and take them on a trip through time!" Diana said excitedly. The three younger people recoiled, looking at Sammy, who in turn was looking at his sketchbook, just… remembering.

_How am I going to get back home? _He thought. Suddenly, a wrenching thought came to his head. _Aggie! What happened to Aggie when I was gone for 40 years? She must have thought I was dead! Oh no…_

_Wait! If I go back, I'll appear at the same time as when I left. That means she didn't think I was dead, and… oh, this is giving me a headache… I have to find Celebi to get me back!_

"Where's Celebi! What happened to Celebi?" He blurted out quickly. He scanned the table they were all sitting at, but none but the two old women even seemed to recognize the name. "Was there a Pokémon with me in the forest?" he asked, desperate to find his ticket home.

The old woman looked over, face going very serious. "The Pokémon you met that day was a Celebi?" She asked.

"_Yes!"_ Said Sammy, exasperated.

"We know Celebi as the Voice of the Forest, the spirit that protects it," the woman said.

"You two must have been in danger, and Celebi just picked the fastest way to get you out!" Said Diana.

"It must have escaped to the future, and taken you with it!" Explained the squinty-eyed one.

_That makes sense… Celebi must have sent us through time to escape the poacher! But why did it send me through the portal? This doesn't make any sense…_

"I'm afraid you're right," said the old woman "Celebi lives deep in the forest, in a place we call The Lake of Life. That's probably where it's gone back to now."

Sammy looked up, determined. "I've got a feeling Celebi might still be hurt!" He said, remembering the weakness he had felt when Celebi had flown towards him, how he had needed to carry it. "I have to go back into that forest and find Celebi!"

The boy with the cap stood up. "I'll go too!" he said.

"Me too," proclaimed the squinty one.

"Me too," said the red head.

The squinty-eyed boy turned to Sammy, offering a hand to shake, which he took. "My name's Brock, and I'm aiming to be a Pokémon breeder!"

Sammy smiled, and shook Brock's hand. "I'm Sam."

"My name's Misty, and my specialty is Water Pokémon!" Said the girl.

"My name's Ash Ketchum, and I'm trying to be a Pokémon Master!" proclaimed the cap-wearing boy.

A Pikachu riding on his shoulder jumped up on his head. "Pika, pika!"

Ash laughed, and pointed a finger at his Pokémon. "Oh yeah, and this is Pikachu!" he said. Pikachu smirked at the attention, and the expression on his face was enough to make Sammy laugh as he walked out the door, towards the Lake of Life.

After about half an hour of walking through the forest, Pikachu let out a cry from atop Ash's head, causing them all to look towards him. As fast as lightning, the Electric type jumped off Ash's head and rushed off down the path, causing the group of Ash, Misty, Brock and Sammy to chase after him.

After only a few seconds, Pikachu drew to a halt, so quickly that the humans nearly tripped over their feet. As soon as they untangled themselves, Sammy turned to look at what Pikachu had seen. It was an enormous clump of forest Pokémon of all kinds gathered together around a small indentation on a massive log.

"The Pokémon are all together!" Exclaimed Ash. He ran up to the log and began climbing, Sammy right behind him. They grappled with vines, trying to reach the top, to find out why all the Pokémon were together.

When Sammy reached the top, he was confident… too confident, as he reached forth to grab a vine… where there was none. Scrambling for a grip, he began to fall, but was grabbed by the arm before he could plummet too far. He opened his eyes and saw Ash holding on to him. Flashing a grateful smile to the other boy, Sammy climbed back to the top, more carefully this time. Worried, Ash looked over at him.

"Sam, maybe you should wait over with Brock and Misty," Ash said.

Sammy gritted his teeth. "No! I have to find Celebi! I couldn't protect it before, so I've got to help it now!" he cried.

After a few moments, they reached where the Pokémon had gathered, and they parted as the humans approached. Sammy arrived first, and looked into the hole. Inside was Celebi, in obvious pain, its big blue eyes half lidded.

**/_Bii…. Bii…./_**

Ash arrived a few seconds later. "Is this the Celebi?" Ash asked reverently. Sammy only nodded, and reached out a hand to the small Pokémon.

"Come on, Celebi…" Sammy said soothingly, as though to a small child.

Celebi's eyes shot open.

**_/Biiii!/_**

A wave of telekinetic force exploded from Celebi, sending Ash and Sammy flying back.

Ash, furious, ran back up to Celebi. "What'd you do that for?" He demanded. "We're only trying to help!"

Celebi didn't seem to think so.

**_/Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!/_**

Thorny roots, just like the ones used on Scyther, propelled themselves out of the ground and began hitting Sammy and Ash, knocking them back to the ground and whipping them. Pikachu began charging up an Electric attack, sparks building in its cheeks, but Sammy stopped it.

"Don't be mad at it! It's just scared, and it's hurt too! A hunter attacked it, that's why it's scared!" he yelled, fending off the roots with his arms.

Ash, holding his arm above his face to shield his eyes, gritted his teeth. "Ok…. Here goes!" He cried, forcing the roots away from him. He sprinted back to where Celebi lay, fending off the vines. When he reached the hole, he peered in.

"Celebi, we're your friends! We don't want to hurt you! We just want to help you!" pleaded Ash, swatting away the vines.

Sammy walked up to stand next to him. "I tried to help you before! Don't you remember, Celebi? I got you away from the Pokémon hunter!" said Sammy, before being shoved out of the way by still more vines.

**_/Bii?/_**

Celebi opened its brilliantly blue eyes and the vines retracted. Ash smiled and moved forwards, petting Celebi's head, which it seemed to like. Sammy moved forwards and picked Celebi up. It was so light, and yet seemed to be brimming with power and energy. Carrying Celebi, he walked out of the hole, Ash in tow. As soon as the wild Pokémon saw Celebi being held by Sammy, they rioted, shrieking, growling, and stamping their legs, but Sammy took no notice. He was staring down at Celebi.

"You're safe with me, Celebi," Said Sammy, and Celebi contentedly closed its eyes and succumbed to sleep.

Suddenly, Celebi spasmed in his arms. Worried, Ash looked at it. Celebi's eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and the bulb on its head seemed to be wilting. As fast as possible, Sammy and Ash shimmied down the log, and back to Brock and Misty.

With one look at Celebi, Brock was immediately worried. "We'd better hurry. Celebi is really weak!" He said. "We should get it to a Pokémon Center!"

Sammy nodded, not bothering to worry about what a Pokémon Center was, and sprinted through the forest, until an explosion of smoke appeared in the group's path, along with very, very annoying laughter.

As the smoke cleared, Sammy saw one of the stupidest sights he had ever seen. An extraordinarily effeminate man with blue hair, wearing a white suit with a red 'R' on it, a black undershirt, and gloves and boots stood next to a tall woman with long red hair wearing a variation of the same uniform, except showing stomach and short pants perched on a branch. Oddly, annoying music seemed to begin playing from thin air.

"… Uh… who are they?" asked Sammy, dumbfounded.

The strangers seemed to take this as an invitation.

"_Prepare for trouble, your future looks grim!" _cried the woman.

"_And we're not afraid to go out on a limb!" _chorused the man in an extraordinarily camp voice.

"_To protect the world from devastation!"_

"_To unite all people within our nation!"_

"_To denounce the evils of truth and love!"_

"_To extend our reach to the stars above!"_

"_Jessie!"_

"_James!"_

"_Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"_

"_Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"_

As the humans spoke their motto (Striking stupid poses in the process), a Meowth jumped down from on high to land in between them.

"_Meowth, dat's right!"_

A beam of light came out of a red and white sphere on the woman, Jessie's belt, (Could it be an advanced Pokéball?), and released a Wobbufet. However, this new weight proved to be too much for the branch to handle, sending the idiots crashing to the ground.

Sammy stared blankly at them, unable to comprehend what he had just seen (And not just because there was a talking Pokémon!), while the rest of the group, evidently used to it, simply ran past them as they lay on the ground. As he watched, he realized they weren't moving.

"Do… you think they are going to be ok?" He asked, not sure what answer he would prefer.

"Unfortunately, yes," replied Misty, pushing him along after Ash and Brock.

"You twerps got lucky this time!" Shouted Jessie from where she lay, crushed by James, Meowth, and Wobbufet.

"They're always lucky!" replied James. Sammy suppressed a shudder, and followed his friends.

After that… interesting… interlude, the group realized that they were racing against time for Celebi's health. The small green Pokémon was clutched to Sammy's chest as the teen ran through the forest after the others, trusting they knew the way to go better than he. And he was right, as a few seconds later, Ash called out from ahead.

"Look, that's the village over there!" he shouted. As they ran towards the village, set at the foot of a distant mountain, a black metallic leg speared down from above, blocking the pass. It belonged to an enormous robot creature, which had four legs, each ending in a spike. Its main body was around half the size of the legs, and housed a heavyset man wearing a golden helmet, with a tuft of dark hair protruding from the top like a plume. He also wore a red cape with an 'R', similar to that of Team Rocket. He had red armor with several small spherical objects that Sammy assumed were some kind of Pokéball on it. Sammy looked around at his friends, hoping they knew whom this stranger was, but they were as perplexed as he.

"I've been looking for that Celebi for a long time…" the man chuckled darkly.

"Who are you?!" demanded Ash, standing up to the man, Pikachu expelling sparks from his cheeks.

"A Pokémon lover…" The man responded, in a tone that suggested he was no such thing.

"Leave us alone!" shouted Ash bravely, but the man only chuckled, and retrieved one of his Pokéballs(?)from his armor. He threw it into the air, and in a manner very unlike the Pokéballs of Sammy's time, it released the Pokémon inside, a truly enormous Tyranitar, and then returned to the man's hand.

Tyranitar roared and raised its arms to the heavens, causing them all to take a step back.

"W… what's that?" asked Misty in fear.

"A Tyranitar… but there's something funny about it!" replied Brock.

And there was. It was at least two and a half times the size of a normal specimen of its kind, and was a darker pigment of green. Its eyes were full of malice, but an undirected kind, towards everyone and everything.

"Hyper Beam!" commanded the man, and a beam of red/orange energy shot from the beast's mouth, which exploded right next to the group, who quickly fled from the blast, hiding behind a tree. Tyranitar roared triumphantly and stomped towards them.

"Here it comes…" said Brock worriedly, as they ran. As soon as Tyranitar began to charge another shot, however, a cloud of gas blew over the field, blinding it temporarily. Squinting, Sammy could just make out the shapes of Team Rocket, and a Weezing.

_They must have made the fog! But… Tyranitar could still hit them! The question is… should I care?_

This mental debate was cut short when Tyranitar fired another Hyper Beam, which barely missed, and hit a tree.

The robot walked over, standing behind Tyranitar, as the man inside surveyed the three idiots cowering on the ground in disgust.

"Who are you three?" He asked, voice dripping with contempt. Suddenly, the flame of recognition lit in Jessie's eyes.

"Look at that mask! I've seen him before!" she said, scared for her life.

"Yeah, wasn't he in dat Mexican wrestling movie?" asked Meowth.

_A stupid thing to say when possibly faced with his own death… _thought Sammy.

James' eyes widened as he recognized the man too.

"No, Meowth, he's from Team Rocket!" he proclaimed.

Suddenly, they all remembered, eyes lighting up in fangirlish joy. "The Iron Masked Marauder!" they chorused.

The man smirked. "So, you heard about me…" He said.

The idiots nodded frantically and ran over. "Oh, yes, we've heard a lot about you!" Jessie said, nearly squealing from delight.

"As you can tell from the uniform, we're also in Team Rocket!" said James, wringing his hands.

The Marauder laughed and threw out two more balls, releasing a Scizor and a Sneasel, who were both larger than usual and shared the same… wrongness… as Tyranitar.

Rather than staying to watch, Sammy and friends ran off into the forest to escape. After a few minutes of running, Misty let out a cry and fell to her knees. Sammy turned immediately, and saw her face screwed up in pain.

"Ash, I think she's hurt!" shouted Sammy to the boy ahead of him, who stopped and ran back.

Misty turned around to look at Brock, who was watching her with concerned eyes. "Brock… I twisted my knee…" She said.

Ash stood a few meters away, an unreadable expression on his face. "You'd better stay off it…" he said, clearly worried from his tone.

Suddenly, Pikachu let out a warning cry, and Ash turned in his direction. "Something's coming!" He shouted, and Sammy immediately looked towards the bushes, which rustled and released Sneasel and Scizor, who assumed battle stances in front of the group. "What are they doing here?" asked Ash.

"They must want Celebi!" replied Brock, drawing a Pokéball.

Ash drew his own Pokéball, and Sammy did the same. Sammy noted that Ash's ball expanded when touched, while his did not. "Alright… then they're in for a battle!" exclaimed Ash, as Sammy handed Celebi to Brock for safekeeping, and took a place beside Ash.

"Ok, I'm with you, Ash! Ready?" he asked, determined. He unscrewed his ball and released Charmeleon to the air, who faced down Sneasel cockily. Beside him, Ash released his Bayleef. As fast as lightning, Sneasel ran towards Charmeleon and unleashed a furious flurry of swipes, which Charmeleon only narrowly dodged.

Sammy was dully aware of Bayleef being attacked by Scizor as he watched Charmeleon and Sneasel exchange Slashes and Fury Swipes against each other. As he watched, Charmeleon swiped at Sneasel twice, who expected it and dodged, but then Headbutted Sneasel in an unexpected move, sending the enemy Pokémon flying. However, this advantage didn't last long, as Sneasel jumped back to its feet and onto a rock wall. Undeterred, Charmeleon loosed a Flamethrower on the cat/weasel thing.

Seeing that Charmeleon had things well in hand, Sammy looked over to see how Ash was going. He saw Scizor disappear with Double Team, summoning clones, which then disappeared, only for the real Scizor to appear and smash Bayleef with a powerful punch.

"Ash, it's using Double Team! You've gotta find the real one!" Sammy exclaimed, and immediately felt stupid for offering such obvious advice.

Ash didn't see it that way, and nodded. "Bayleef, concentrate, then you can find the real one!" shouted Ash. Bayleef nodded and calmed down, staring at each Scizor in turn until she found her target. She grinned as her head leaf glowed a bright white, before firing twin Razor Leaves towards Scizor. They hit the metallic bug in the chest, causing it to grunt and its illusions to fail. Bayleef then released two Vine Whips, slapping Scizor across the chest and knocking it backwards into a rock.

Ash pumped his fist triumphantly. "Yeah, Bayleef! You did it!" he shouted.

Sammy looked over to him, impressed at the win despite the severe type disadvantage. "You're a good Trainer, Ash!" Sammy complimented.

Ash shrugged modestly. "Well, it's easy if you have great Pokémon!" He said, laughing. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Look out, Sneasel!" He shouted.

Sammy immediately turned back to where Charmeleon and Sneasel were clashing. The odds had turned again, as Sneasel hopped all over the battlefield, not allowing Charmeleon to get an attack in. Every so often, Sneasel would dart in, make a powerful attack, and then dart away again. This happened as they watched, although Charmeleon managed to dodge. Sammy saw that there was a brief window of opportunity where Sneasel made his attack, and rested for a moment.

"Charmeleon, Headbutt!" He commanded. The reptilian Pokémon complied, shooting forwards, and burying his head in Sneasel's chest. Oddly, despite the repeated use of this tactic, Sneasel was still caught completely unawares. Perhaps because, even though it, Scizor, and Tyranitar, were powerful, due to the dark power (By which I do not mean the power was Dark type, even though it might be… oh, whatever) infusing them, they were so blinded by anger and hate that they couldn't think straight? Either way, the attack was effective, and knocked Sneasel back into a rock.

Ash flashed a grin at Sammy. "Hey, you're not a bad Trainer, yourself!" complimented Ash.

Sammy smiled happily. "We make a good team!"

They both smiled, and got to work restraining the enemy Pokémon so they would not continue chasing them when they awoke.

A few minutes later, the group was on the move again. Sammy held Celebi, who was whimpering weakly in his arms. Brock carried Misty on his back, due to her broken ankle. Ash led the way, Pikachu on his shoulder.

Suddenly, a mist overtook their surroundings, restricting their vision to a few metres in any direction. Celebi didn't seem to like the mist, and in fact looked visibly hurt by it.

**_/Biii… Biii/_**

Ash noticed Celebi's distress, and looked over worriedly. "We'd better keep moving forward. If we stop now, we might be too late," Ash said grimly. Sammy nodded, until a massive, hulking shape appeared in the gloom. Sammy gasped, and clutched at Exeggutor's Pokéball, thinking it to be Tyranitar. However, the looming shape, as it drew closer, proved to not be the Marauder's Pokémon, and instead was something nearly as frightening, a towering male Ursaring.

"It's an Ursaring!" cried Brock, always pointing out the obvious. Ash, obviously frightened, raised his backpack in front of him, as though to protect himself. A bead of sweat ran down Sammy's brow.

However, their worries turned out to be unnecessary, as a small Teddiursa walked out from behind the hulking bear. It seemed to beckon to the humans, before walking back into the forest with its parent.

"What are they doing?" asked Brock in confusion.

Misty, on his back, was equally confused. "I… think they're asking us to follow them?" she said. Suddenly, Pikachu let out a cry, and chased the bears into the forest.

Ash glanced after him. "Should we?" he asked tentatively.

Sammy nodded, and they proceeded into the forest, for whatever they might find.

**How about that?**

_**-LordMagikarp**_


End file.
